Follow Me Down
by Newspace19
Summary: So stalkers are bad news right? How about becoming friends with your stalker? Yeah not the best idea. Throw in some flames and some glowing eyes and following the stalker down a proverbial rabbit hole may not be the best idea. Roxas wanted adventure and he sure got it. AU, couples galore, eventually
1. Introductions Are Boring

So hey. I'm back. I'm really bad at finishing anything, really! I hate that my attention span is extremely erratic but I wrote this and it just kept going. I've decided to not post another chapter story unless I have written 3 chapters. I feel bad posting only one chapter then leaving it to rot for forever.

Anyway this is losely based off of a song by my favorite band! Can anyone guess who who it is without googling it? whatever I'm over it! Enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Chapter 1: Introductions are boring

_School is just plain terrible._ Roxas Harada sat in his physics class hating everything about Twilight high. It's not that the school itself was bad; just boring and full of clichés. The stereotypical cliques, the easy classes, the unbearable teachers. That last one had occurred to him as his physics teacher moved his long blond hair out of his face and continued to bitch out some student who got an answer wrong. Roxas rolled his eyes at the poor victim and continued to look out the window that was next to his desk. Senior year or not Roxas still hated every second of being there. His friends made it bearable when they were around, which was most of the time, except for physics. So to pass the time Roxas either glared at anything that paid him some attention or gazed outside.

Roxas had always loved the thought of being outdoors; travelling specifically. He had big plans for travel in his future. Ever since his parents found out his want for travel they had been helping him save up for it. $20 every A he got and $10 for every B he got. That was enough motivation to keep his grades up. He hadn't really thought about where to travel just away from this hell hole.

As he heard the bell ring, Roxas quickly made his way out of the classroom, but not before catching a glance of red outside the window. He would've stayed and thought about it but he was not looking for a reason to stick around.

Physics was Roxas' last class of the day and with all school related things left behind he calmly made his way over to the usual spot. He was meeting Hayner, Olette and Pence there to hang out for the rest of the day. Roxas sometimes wondered how they put up with him, but he trusted and loved them as if they were his true family. As he made his way to the usual spot he thought of all the adventures the four had been through. One of his small smiles made its way onto his face.

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Axel Utadi sighed as he played with a few small flames in his hand. _This mission blows. And to a high school?! Ridiculous. _Xemnas had said there was a small disturbance in this area but he hadn't seen anything yet. Just the typical high school bullshit that he didn't miss. It had been a couple years since he graduated and he still couldn't put enough distance between himself and this place.

He heard a loud screeching that was loosely defined as a bell and watched the mass of children flee. All of them seemed indistinguishable except for one. This one student seemed to be glowing a strange colorful aura. _Well what do we have here?_ He finally got a glimpse of the teen that was surrounded by the aura. It took the form of a male teenager. Blond spikes everywhere, piercing blue eyes, and a pissed off look that kept everyone at bay. _Oh~! This one has sass! Hope he's legal! _He whipped out his work phone and sent his boss a picture of the teen with a text saying. "You see what I see right? What should I do? PS nothing else showed up".

After about 10 minutes with no response Axel decided to take a trip to the local beach. Water may not be his best friend but sunbathing sure was!

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Roxas was currently sharing laughs with his friends, making the best of the day, when Olette asked him the same question she asked him at least once a week. "So where are you going to travel when you graduate?"

Roxas sighed and rolled his eyes. "You ask me this all the time and every time I tell you I'm not sure. I've researched all of the worlds out there but nothing seems to spark my interest as the first place to start my road trip. Although you guys know Alice right? The exchange student? She was telling me about how in her hometown in England they have this crazy theme park. She wouldn't give me too many details but I think it was because she was trying to be a tease. I'm gonna head there on April Vacation. Wish it wasn't six months away."

Hayner just shook his head. "You think of the craziest places to visit. What was it last week? Atlantis? Man I wish I had the luxury to travel for a year once I graduate. As soon as my parents found out that I actually had plans for the future they forced me to go to college." Hayner quickly grabbed Roxas in a headlock. "You better send us post cards!" As Roxas started to wrestle with Hayner, Olette and Pence started to laugh at the two, while they held hands. It was definitely a picture perfect moment.

After a few minutes of that Olette spoke up. "Alright boys Pence and I have a date tonight so we're heading out. And no that doesn't mean you can tear apart the town!"

Hayner and Roxas responded at the same time. "Yes mom." Olette just laughed at them. She loved playing the mom of the group. It was hard work sure, but she felt good knowing that her friends were safe. As she and Pence left, Hayner and Roxas gave each other the same evil look. They grabbed their skateboards and started their usual race: to see who can do the most laps around town before sundown. Around the fifth lap Hayner realized that Roxas' look wasn't as identical as it usually was. His eyes had glowed a little bit.

Soooo there! Did I mention how much I hate coming up with names? That includes last names, chapter names and story titles.  
Ah well second chapter coming up in like one minute thanks to my new rule! See ya then!


	2. Who The Hell Are You!

Welcome back! Hope you liked that crap of an introduction! they're always so stuffy! So in return here's some character development of some sort!

Ps I put the rating as T because of swearing but I might change it in the future. And by that I mean it'll go up  
Anyway Enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Chapter 2: Who The Hell Are You?!

With November gone and Christmas slowly approaching, Roxas still wasn't finding school to be any easier. Especially now with Christmas shopping invading almost everything. Roxas didn't really hate Christmas, he just felt that it wasn't about shopping and buying gifts people were just going to return anyway. Plus he wasn't one for the Christmas spirit either; since he spent most of his Christmases alone or with friends. Downside to having rich business owning parents. So this lead to Roxas directing most of his glares from other people to all things Christmas related.

He was back in physics class staring out the window. He did this just about every class. A while back Mr. Brocton, or the Ice Queen as everyone called him, tried to catch him not paying attention by asking him to answer a question at random. Roxas just gave him a harsh glare and easily answered the question correctly. When he saw the shocked look on the Ice Queen's face he rolled his eyes and went back to staring outside. He left Roxas alone after that.

Lately he had been paying more attention to the outside. He had been seeing these strange flashes of red around. Once he thought it was someone's hair but he couldn't be sure; they're called glances for a reason. It would've bugged him more if he even knew what the red was. So until he figured it out, he stopped and stared.

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Axel was bored out of his skull! Apparently there had been disturbances of the monster variety all over this place but every time he showed up there, there was nothing but that blond kid, Roxas. Xemnas said that the kid may be a new recruit and the monsters could be drawn to him, but at the same time he wasn't allowed to make contact with him. Axel was complying, for now. It was kind of fun watching Roxas, his scowls were entertaining. He almost caught Axel a few times but he was too sly to get caught for real. But besides those two things he was still just waiting. Roxas' daily routine wasn't exactly a daytime soap opera. He slept, went to school, ate, hung out with friends, worked a crappy fast food job, slept then repeated. No wonder this kid scowled all the time; Axel would too if his life was that boring.

After three weeks of monitoring Roxas, Axel was determining how he should pop into Roxas' life. he could pose as a sub, maybe a customer at his job, or even a fellow skateboarder! So many options! Axel let out a playful chuckle as he thought of all the fun he could have.

There was just one small snag. Roxas hadn't shown his element; at least not in an obvious way. There was a person out there for every element and The Organization already had several, some obvious and some abstract. Fire, nothingness, lightning, space, water, the list goes on. _But what element does that little ball of spunk have?_ All this wondering made Axel want to confront Roxas even more. The thing about people with elements was that their elements had a better chance of reacting and showing up around other people with elements. With that in mind, Xemnas created The Organization; or at least that's what Xemnas said. But Axel didn't really listen to him if he didn't have to. And then Axel was back to showing up in Roxas' life. As Axel started to walk away from the school, the loud final bell went off. _Time for action!_

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Roxas took his time taking his skateboard over to his shit job. He banked most of his money and spent very little during the week. He didn't need much and he wanted to put a lot away for his savings. Tonight he was working the grill flipping burgers. Over and over again. some job, huh? Anyway his break finally came so the first thing he did was went out for a smoke. yeah he smoked but no one dared say anything about it. Roxas wasn't the friendliest of people and he only smoked to calm himself down so no one said anything. That was how Roxas liked it. but what he didn't expect was a giant red-head to appear out of nowhere next to him.

The first thing he recognized was the wild red hair. _So that's what I've been seeing?! How the hell did I miss that spiky mess?!_ Next thing he noticed? He was over a foot taller than Roxas. That made him scowl a bit. He hated being short. Next came the cat-like eyes with purple triangle tattoos underneath them. He was definitely a strange looking guy. He wore a short sleeve green button up and blue skinny jeans. While Roxas was looking the guy over he didn't notice the stranger reach his hand out to Roxas. "Got an extra smoke?"

Roxas didn't say anything; he just slowly offered the stranger a smoke. As the stranger lit up Roxas just kept staring at him waiting for the stranger to say something. But he didn't. Roxas' patience wore out fast. "Who the hell are you?! I know you've been watching me. what's your deal?!" As he was yelling he felt a slight pulse flow through him but was too angry to worry about it. what he didn't know was that his eyes were glowing but Axel saw. _Oh this could be bad, _Axel thought as he put his hands up defensively. "Listen kid I mean no harm"

"I'm not a kid. If you were a good stalker you'd know that."

Axel smirked. _Oh I __**really**__ like this kid._ He slowly backed Roxas into a corner. "You're right. But it's not too wise to taunt a stalker, right kid?"

Roxas met Axel's smirk with a tough scowl. "I'm due back on the floor in less than 20 minutes. They'll notice me missing. Besides a proper stalker doesn't want to hurt who he stalks. They just want to possess them." The glow slowly died down. Axel felt relief but didn't show it. he was actually having fun. "Oh yeah?" Axel moved his face real close; close enough to whisper into his ear. "What do you think I want from you?" Axel found a red tint making its way onto Roxas' face. _God he's adorable._ Axel slowly backed off, chuckling. "Don't worry kid, I don't want anything from you. actually the complete opposite. I want to show you something. My boss has me keeping an eye on you and I'm gonna show you why." Axel pulled out his phone and put it in Roxas' face. It was big and nice enough to act as a mirror. "Now don't look up when I talk to you, just focus on the mirror."

Roxas just looked at the mirror and nodded. "Wish I had a nice phone like this."

"Well if you finally put on your big boy shoes, grow a foot, and stop acting like a kid you'll earn one." Roxas whipped his head at Axel and gave him one of his dirtiest looks. "Hey. Hey! The phone!" Roxas aimed his glare at the phone. His eyes were _glowing_! His glare turned into a look of shock and his eyes stop glowing. He looked up at Axel who had a knowing smile on his face. "The name's Axel Utadi. Figured I'd give you my full name since I'm going to get to know you very well the next couple weeks."

Roxas had is scowl back on. "Oh yeah? What makes you think that?"

"Because" Axel re-lit Roxas' smoke by putting a flame on his finger. "I'm in the same boat you are. Plus you're element won't manifest much unless I'm around." Roxas' look of shock was back but it didn't stay for long. He put on his scowl again, scribbled something down on a piece of paper and shoved it into Axel's hands. "No more stalking me hot head." Before Axel could respond Roxas quickly walked away, tossing his smoke into a gutter. Axel just laughed after the teen left. _Oh this will be a lot of fun._

_So was that better? hope so! Hey did I mention this is a gay story? Cuz it is. Yeah haha funny thing is I usually mention this at the very beginning of my stories. Ah well.  
Chapter three up in minutes! See ya guys then!  
_


	3. Roxas! Get Off Your Phone!

Alright! I'm liking this story already! I hope you guys are too!

A couple things I want to mention. I hope I don't drive people off with this but Kairi Riku and Sora will most likely not appear in this story. Don't get me wrong I really do like Riku and Sora especially together! (and yes that does leave Kairi left out she can rot anyway. She has absolutely no use in the game minus damsel in distress. And just because you can shove a keyblade into her hand still doesn't make her useful. Anyway) There is a very small chance the two might show up but I see no use for them right now.

Second note at the end! Enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Chapter 3: Roxas! Get off your phone!

After their confrontation at Roxas' work, Axel had for the most part stopped creeping. He still popped up here and there and texted Roxas incessantly, but he always made his presence known. So yeah, no more random glimpses of red. Instead he got the red hairdo in his face. It could've been worse, Axel was good company. Plus he didn't like people either so when people saw Axel with Roxas and thought the teen was becoming friendly, Axel drove them away just as fast as Roxas did. It made Roxas smile, watching people quickly walk away from them.

But there were a couple snags. Like how old Axel was. Every time Roxas asked him, he only got "Old enough for you not to worry" or "why does it matter? You're legal". That brought another snag. Axel would hit on him. All. The. Time. Now it wasn't that Roxas didn't mind his attention. Some of the comments were witty and downright flattering. He appreciated those comments. But most of them came at the worst times and weren't exactly ok in public. Like at work, or anywhere in a classroom; which led to another problem. Axel always knew where Roxas was and able to get to him with no trouble at all. It was strange to say the least.

The biggest upside to hanging with Axel? Roxas started to feel the energy in him; like when his eyes glowed, he would feel a wave of energy flow over him. Axel told him it was normal for him to feel that but wouldn't explain anything else. That was annoying but the wave of energy he felt when he got riled up felt amazing! He mostly felt it when Axel was around so he used it as a reason to keep him around.

Roxas was back in Physics class. He always did most of his thinking in physics. _Maybe since this stuff is so easy I could make a job out of it. Whatever, problem for the future_. Roxas looked out the window and saw Axel standing outside waving like an idiot. Roxas just rolled his eyes and looked away. After a few seconds his phone went off. When Roxas looked at it he rolled his eyes again. It was Axel, big shocker.

**Aww why'd you turn away? I liked seeing those beautiful blue eyes of yours!  
**

Roxas scoffed but felt his face flush a little. **I'm trying to pay attention in class go away**

**Oh Roxy you're such a bad liar! **Roxas scowled. _Damn nickname. Stupidest thing out there._ **Stop calling me that!**

**But it's such a cute nickname for such a cute kid!**

Roxas went to respond but the Ice Queen spoke up. "Roxas! Get off your phone or detention all week!" Roxas just sighed and put his phone away. He saw Axel pout outside but ignored the texts on his phone. He had a job and didn't want to lose it because of detention.

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Roxas was on his way over the usual spot when he felt a body practically fall on top of him. "Axel get off of me!"

"But you're so cute and strong at the same time! Not many short people can help me stay up!" Roxas' eyes started to glow and quickly slipped out from underneath Axel who quickly fell to the ground with an "oof!" Axel quickly recovered and started walking next to Roxas with a pout on his face. "Why are you so cruel Roxy? I just want you to accept my love!" Roxas just rolled his eyes. "So when can I start doing more with my power than just have my eyes glow in the dark?"

Axel shrugged. "Well we don't exactly know what your power is so it's hard to say. Plus my boss chewed me out when he found out I filled you in. not a happy camper that one. I had to fight just to still see your smiling face. So for now I can't teach or show you anything else. Sorry." Roxas was about to get pissed and come up with a rude retort but he saw an apologetic look on Axel's face. He just shrugged it off and said, "Don't worry, orders are orders. At least" Roxas hesitated. "At least you can still be here." Axel's face lit up like the Christmas trees that were put away a few weeks ago. "Aww you really do care! You're such a sweetheart under all that hate!" Roxas just scowled and brushed him off.

As they reached the usual spot Roxas stepped in front of Axel to stop him. "Listen Axel. I agreed to let you meet my friends but if you scare them off I will end you. I made sure there were plenty of fire extinguishers in there."

Axel quickly put his hands up in defense. "Calm down glow stick! I know they're important to you! I won't make any sex jokes I promise. No matter how much you want to get into my pants." Axel finished it off with a wink. Roxas just rolled his eyes and went inside.

Hayner was practicing dart throwing while Pence and Olette were chatting on the couch. As Roxas entered he decided to give them a heads up. "Hey just so you guys know the pervert stalker I told you about is here." He sat down in a free chair and smirked at Axel. _Let's see you make a smooth entrance now._

Axel entered wearing a pout. "Aww c'mon Roxy! I'm much more than that! I'm also devilishly handsome and an amazing magician!"

Hayner scoffed. "Yeah right. I see no good looks and I feel like the only magic trick you know is how you can dress yourself every day." Roxas smirked. _I knew he was my best friend for a reason!_ Hayner went to throw another dart and before it reached the board it burst into flames. Everyone gasped but while everyone was staring at it Olette whipped out a fire extinguisher and put out the dart. "Let's not set fire to our hangout ok?"

Hayner looked pretty pissed. "Yeah especially since you just burnt one of my darts! I don't have any spares!"

Axel put his hands up in defense. Again. He seemed to be getting into the habit of that. "I'm sorry! You wanted a magic trick and I showed you one! I'll get you a new one." Hayner grumbled but went back to his darts. Olette put the extinguisher away and went over to greet Axel, all smiles. "Sorry about him. he's about as grumpy as Roxas so if you can put up with him I'm sure you can get along with Hayner. I'm Olette and this is my boyfriend Pence. Welcome to the gang!"

Axel smiled at her politeness. "Its nice to meet you too mama bear! Roxas told me you were like his other mom. Nice to see its true! He needs someone to keep him out of trouble."

Olette giggled and turned to Roxas. "I like him already!" Roxas rolled his eyes. "You're such a charmer Axel."

Axel quickly sat on Roxas' lap and played with his hair. "Sure am. You're the only one who can resist my charm, sadly. When can I have your heart?"

"If you earn it, but I doubt you will."

Hayner whipped his head around to Roxas. He saw a similar look of shock on Olette and Pence's faces. They all were thinking the same thing: _He didn't say no?!_ everyone wanted to ask what that was about but they didn't instead they watched Roxas push Axel off of his lap. Pence and Olette just rolled their eyes at the two but Hayner decided to keep a closer eye on the two, just in case.

Alright what did you think? This story is a bit iffy when it comes to writing it but I'm having fun. Hope you folks are too!

So second note. I've hinted at Xemnas and the organization in this story. They will appear eventually. That's where the pairings galore comes in. It'll be a lot of fun! I wanna spill all the details now but where's the fun in that! ;P here's one thing I will say: I'm splitting up a popular couple to make two of my favorite couples! Stick around to find out!

Well I'm pooped been up for over 12 hours I think and I have to work tonight so off to bed for now. Update when I can!


	4. Knowledge Or Romance

Guess who's back! I didn't expect to have another chapter so fast but it came out pretty well! I'm liking it still so I'll keep going.

I actually had this story in the back of my head and I knew it was gonna be a long one. Hopefully I'll stick with it til its done!

Anyway rambling aside ENJOY!

Follow Me Down

Chapter 4: Knowledge or Romance

So it was mid-January and Axel hadn't been around that much for the past week or so. It was making Roxas worried, not that'd he would openly admit it. Roxas was worried he was getting too attached to the red-headed stalker and thought that Axel was feeling the same way. That's why he wasn't around as much anymore; didn't make the situation suck any less.

It's not that Roxas couldn't live without him; he was completely self-sufficient. He was even learning some of his powers on his own. It was thrilling and satisfying, but he still missed Axel. He had texted the stalker a few times but no response.

Halfway through week two of no Axel Roxas' nearly nonexistent patience was becoming extremely short. His friends understood why he was feeling like that but didn't have it in them to explain. Hayner explained to Olette and Pence rather bluntly. "How the hell do you explain to someone that they're falling in love with their stalker?"

Roxas had slowly been developing his powers on his own. He could make his eyes glow by himself and was even able to produce the flow of energy inside himself. But he couldn't find a way to expel it. It was annoying but not that bad since Roxas was making progress. The worst part of it was that he didn't know what else to do without Axel. It was hard for Roxas to depend on anyone but his friend and himself.

After school Roxas decided to go to the beach to get some alone time. After skateboarding over there, he quickly plopped down on the sand in an empty spot on the beach. It was peaceful and Roxas was looking for peace, but at the same time he was lonely. Roxas just sighed. He hated the fact that someone made him feel like this but couldn't bring himself to feel any different. _Maybe if Axel stays away the feeling will go away eventually. _

As Roxas spaced out he felt vibrations in his pants. He checked his phone and saw a text message from Axel. **Boo**

Just as Roxas read the text he felt someone latch themselves onto him. Roxas couldn't repress the smile on his face, but he still made sure Axel couldn't see it. "Hey stalker good to see you."

Axel heard the sincerity in his voice and instantly perked up. "Nice to see you too, glow stick. I've missed you too. I'm sorry I haven't been around that much lately; something came up."

Roxas couldn't hear Axel's usual playfulness in his tone of voice and it was extremely unsettling. He grabbed Axel's chin and got a good look at him. He didn't find anything obviously wrong with him; _minus the tattoos. What was he thinking when he got them?_ He moved his focus to Axel's eyes. "Alright what did you get yourself into? Tell me or I'll beat it out of you."

Axel chuckled and made Roxas release him. "Careful Roxy, you know I like it when you get feisty. I guess that makes this situation a little easier. I need to ask you an important question."

Roxas gave a curious look but waited patiently. Axel sighed. "Go back to being sassy! It cuts the tension." Axel gave a weak chuckle.

Roxas frowned. "Axel spill it or my skateboard is going up your ass."

Axel laughed loudly. "That's better. Now you have a choice. Go on a date with me or I take you to meet my boss for official training. I know its sudden but certain things have come up and I want to take a chance before anything else happens. Plus I really do like you glow stick." He gave Roxas a big smile but Roxas was in shock. He had no idea what to say!

After what seemed like hours of silence Axel sighed and brushed back his hair. "Maybe it wasn't the best idea to spring this on you. Listen you don't have to answer now just meet me back here tomorrow, same time. That ok?" Roxas nodded, not really sure how to respond. Axel gave a small smile and walked away.

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"I don't know why you can't make this decision easily. Axel already told you that he has feelings for you. Question is do you have feelings for him?" Pence was the one to finally throw the question out there. Roxas avoided looking Pence in the eyes because he wasn't sure. It wasn't exactly a question he was ready to answer willy nilly. It was important situation especially since it meant giving up a chance to get some official training.

Olette took a shot. "So what if you get some training on whatever is going on with you? You might lose Axel if you choose that. I know you don't want him to leave again. Plus we all know you have similar feelings whether you want to tell us or not."

Roxas scowled again. _Why are all my friends so god damn smart? Its annoying and helpful at the same time. _Roxas had plenty of reasons to pick training, just most of them weren't good reasons. He really wanted to learn more! And he knew there was plenty to learn; but at this cost? Roxas wasn't sure if it was worth it.

Hayner sat next to Roxas on the sofa at the usual spot. "Listen man, I know it's hard for you to get attached to people and we all understand that! Having parents who are just about never there like ever sucks hard-core, just like people in general. But it doesn't mean you should push all of them away, even if you are really good at doing just that." Roxas glared at the floor at the mention of his parents. They were only good for the money they gave him; he had discovered that a long time ago. They only found out his plans for travel because Pence had spilled the beans a while back while both Pence and his parents were at Roxas' house; which was definitely a rare occurrence.

"Here's one thing to think about." Hayner continued. "Why are you putting so much thought into this? We've seen friends like this come and go over the years. You've never let someone in this fast, and you've never let someone do half the stuff Axel does to you. I think you have feelings for him. You should give him a chance. Besides don't your 'powers' activate more when he's around? Two birds one stone."

Roxas had literally said nothing this whole time because all of his friends were right. Normally if some of his pseudo-friends (the people who Roxas put up with when they tried to be his friend) did anything along these line, Roxas would push them away in a heartbeat. Why was Axel different? plus there was that feeling Axel gave him when he was gone. Roxas couldn't deny it anymore: he was getting attached to Axel and fast. _Would it be so bad dating Axel? Probably not. _

As Roxas went to leave he found something to say. "Thanks guys." And with that Roxas went to get some alone time.

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Axel waited patiently on the calm beach. It seemed like such a nice place to share with someone. _Maybe if Roxas says yes?_ Axel wasn't as equally as calm as the beach, nowhere near it. He had gotten attached to his little glow stick. Probably way too attached than he should but there were no policies about dating new recruits.

As Axel was lost in thought he felt someone lean onto his hair. "Hey watch the hai-oh hey Roxas. Get off the hair."

Roxas gave a smirk. "Oh what you can lean on me and play with my hair any time you want but I do it once and that shit doesn't fly? Hell now. Your hair is comfy and we both know you get that look naturally. I'm the only one here who uses a shit ton of product."

Axel chuckled. Roxas was so funny. "Alright we can talk about who is a bigger girl later." Axel pushed Roxas off of him and turned to face him. "You have an answer?"

Roxas sighed. "Listen you get why this isn't easy right?" Axel nodded. He had done his research, of course. "So you'll understand why I'll end your life if you fuck this up right?" Axel's face lit up. "Hey hold on! Just so you know I'm not a cheap date! Just because I work in fast food doesn't mean I want it all the time!" Axel let Roxas finish his speech then pounced on him. "You won't regret it my glow stick! You don't know how amazing this is! Not only do I get to date ya, I also get to train ya!"

Roxas was focusing on wrestling Axel off of himself but then he stopped. "Wait! You're going to train me too? But I thought it was you or the boss official training!"

Axel chucked lightly. "Well here's the thing. Either way you would get training, but if you picked the boss I'd introduce you to him and have him pick a new mentor. I'm supposed to train you but I knew I couldn't keep my hands off of you if I did. So I decided to give you that choice so I could avoid training you." Axel gently cupped Roxas' cheek. "You're too cute to pass up."

Roxas was going to say something but he was enjoying the attention so he just nodded and smiled. Axel gasped playfully. "Is that a smile? Did I make that happen? Oh I feel special!" Right after he said that Roxas found he scowl again. "And its gone" Axel pouted. Axel quickly got up and started to practically drag Roxas off of the beach. "C'mon glow stick date time!"

"Stop calling me glow stick!"

So what did you think? Has anyone noticed the one big thing I've been overlooking? I'm not mentioning the fact that either of them are gay once. I usually address it in every story I write but when thinking about where to fit it in this story it felt unneccessary and that it took away from the story (Going with the whole "people are gay get over it" saying here) so I just didn't add it. I might mention it off handedly later on but for now I'm good.

Its currently 6am and I already got a nap so I should be good to write for another couple hours. Hopefully I can finish a chapter before going to bed! Be back soon!


	5. Learning Things The Hard Way

WICKED sorry this was late. Its been a rough couple of days. Lots of plans with friends coupled with no sleep and lots of work meant absolutely no writing was done.

I actually had a small incident at work. I'm openly gay there and i make jokes with my coworkers and managers all the time about it. Nothing too vulger, i mean it is work. unfortunetaly my manager decided she didn't want to listen to it anymore and said that she didn't want me to mention my sexually at all while i was at work saying that it was inappropriate and unprofessional and that i shouldn"t always mention that i'm gay and single if she doesn't always mention that she's married and straight. she said it was an opening for customers and employees to make fun of me and that i shouldn't get mad if they say something rude because its my own fault. she literally said i wasn't allowed to mention it at all. the way she worded it was like she didn't want me to be myself. like i wasn't allowed to be who i really was.

it cut deep because she used to be one of my favorite managers. i've had a few instances at my work and i thought after putting in two and a half years i earned respect enough to not get that shit but aparently not.

i'm getting over it but i wish i didn't have to. Whatever

that fucked up side of my life aside i'm still sorry this story is late. I hope you enjoy

Follow Me Down

Chapter 5: Learning Things The Hard Way

So dating Axel was actually a lot of fun. Roxas was enjoying their time together! Sure Axel got on his nerve sometimes; Roxy and glow stick aren't exactly flattering names. Axel usually balanced it out with cutie, handsome etc. Axel could be a real gentleman when he wanted to be, or when he wasn't trying to get into Roxas' pants. Roxas never took Axel seriously when he said stuff like that, especially since the redhead didn't have a chance getting in there any time soon, or ever unless he played his cards right.

School was still terrible. The weird thing was that he was actually starting to like physics class. Not the work or the teacher but the thinking time it gave him. Plus he could always text Axel a lot during that time. _And I like the topics, I guess. At least they were interesting._ Mr. Brocton had been pretty relaxed with Roxas lately, even offering extra lessons if Roxas was interested in majoring it in college. _Feels good to have options, at least after my travels. Priorities, priorities. _

Roxas was in physics right now enjoying the view outside. It was a peaceful day that was easy to enjoy even if you just watched it. It made Roxas think of what he could do to spend time with Axel. It was strange to get so close to someone so fast. They had only met in November and Valentine's Day is just around the corner. It was extremely unnerving; at least for Roxas. It was already painfully obvious that he didn't like getting attached to new people, but Axel was being kind about it instead of pushing all boundaries. That was one of the reasons why Roxas let him tease him so much.

Roxas usually had thoughts like these while sitting in physics. Well thoughts like that and ones about his powers. Axel said his training would start this Saturday around noon. It was good because they hadn't made any progress at all. It was strange, but Roxas didn't dwell on it. He was too busy guessing what his element was. He kept guessing light but Axel told him that he shouldn't try to focus on one thing because, "If you expect one element and you release a completely different one it gets harder to control. Your element relies heavily on your mindset." _Sounds like psychological babble to me. _Roxas didn't put much thought into it though because Axel was technically the expert in this situation. The term expert was definitely use loosely.

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So it was a little after noon and Roxas was waiting patiently in the back tunnels near the beach. Roxas was feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time: nervous. This was definitely new territory for him, but Roxas was still eager to start training. While Axel was waiting for Roxas he was practicing moving the flow of energy throughout his body. That euphoric feeling he got when he did that was still going strong. It felt amazing!

"Hey space cadet! Aren't I more exciting than whatever is going on in your head?" Roxas opened his eyes as the energy ebbed away. "Nah not really." Axel gave him a pout that Roxas found quite cute. He went over to Axel and gave him a quick kiss. "Way to take your time cutie."

Axel threw his arm over Roxas. "Sorry boo, boss-man wanted to have a small talk with me. He wanted to make sure everything is in order." He gave Roxas a tender kiss. "Yep everything is ok. Are you ready?" Roxas nodded, giving Axel a determined look.

"Alright curl your hands up into a ball. Focus the flow of energy into your hands down to your fingertips and focus it into a ball." Roxas starts to follow the directions Axel gave him. He felt the energy move into his fingertips but getting it into a ball was a different story. It was difficult to turn the energy into something concrete. Roxas started to clench his teeth and shake he was focusing so hard. Axel was a little worried but he had faith in his glow stick.

After a few more minutes of that extreme focusing, Roxas felt the energy slip through his fingers, slowly forming into a ball. After a few minutes of holding the shape together, Roxas finally opened his eyes. In his hand was a small ball of while light. Roxas face lit up as bright as the ball of light in his hand. Unfortunately that small hiccup in his focus caused the ball to fizzle and dissipate.

Just as Roxas was about to get pissed Axel threw himself onto Roxas. "Oh Roxy that was amazing! Barely anyone can get it on their first time and even fewer got it as fast as you! I'm so proud of you cutie!" Roxas slowly calmed down and became scowl free. "You know it always feels good when you stroke my ego."

"Well in this situation you deserve it! And I guess you were right you're element is light. What do ya think of that?"

"I can't believe I actually did it! I didn't actually think it was possible!"

"Talk about a skeptic. Maybe now that you saw that you can do it it'll be easier for you to try again."

"Wait what?"

"Try again." Axel gave Roxas a stern look. Roxas frowned but started again.

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After a few more hours of making the same ball of energy over and over again Roxas was currently leaning against a wall panting up a storm. Axel sat down next to him and made Roxas into him. "You did good babe. I wanna treat you to dinner. And the best part is you can't stop me!" Axel picked up Roxas piggyback style and slowly carried the exhausted teen to his house.

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The Harada residence was HUGE! Borderline mansion. Axel covered up his look of shock as Roxas weakly unlocked the door. The inside was as expansive as the outside, not that it was a good thing. The house was filled with expensive and fancy things but had a vacant feel to it; like no one lived here. Roxas looked at the ground as he walked next to Axel, avoiding his gaze. Axel didn't see anyone anywhere as they walked to Roxas' room. "Hello? Anybody there?"

Roxas sighed quietly. "Don't bother, no one is home. Even the help has gone home for the day. Don't expect to meet my folks any time soon."

Axel didn't know what to say. Parental issues were always touchy topics. _Guess I'll start simple._ "Well where are they?"

"Traveling, working, saving the world? Don't know and don't care."

Axel frowned. _Great parenting skills. _They reached Roxas' room; it seemed like the only part of the house that was actually inhabited by someone. "Go take a shower Roxy, I'll wait for you." Roxas nodded and went to the bathroom grabbing a change of clothes along the way. When Axel heard the shower start he took it as an opportunity to explore his room.

All over the walls were posters and pictures of faraway places. A band poster here and there and some video games too; but mostly just the far off paradises. _I guess he wants to travel as much as his parents do. I wonder why though._ There was a medium sized flat screen TV near the doorway but it was covered in dust. _Not much of a TV watcher._ The room had simple furniture: the TV, a full size bed, a bureau and a desk. Nothing special. _He works all the time; wonder what he does with all his money._ Axel sat on the bed thinking about his special blond. Axel never really asked about Roxas' family or anything along the lines of those topics; he felt that those were conversations that were saved for later in their relationship. _Maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring him home._

Deep in thought, Axel never noticed said blond sitting next to him. Roxas nudged him and Axel snapped out of his train of thought. "Oh hey there Roxas. Good to see you all handsome and clean. We'll you're always handsome. Never mind."

Roxas scowled. "What happened?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry I brought you over here."

Roxas started to gel up his hair. "Whatever. You were going to find out eventually that I don't really have parents. Or even a trust fund. They just come and go whenever and I never stop them. I don't need to rely on them anymore. Perks of having a job."

Axel just nodded. He decided that they had had enough of this topic so he took Roxas' hand and led him outside. "I wanna treat you for such awesome work you did today my little light bulb."

"Well it's nice to see that I've upgraded. Maybe one day I can light up a stadium."

"In you're dreams my little light bulb. Let's go!"

So the training part was really hard to write for some reason, but as soon as i got it going it was all set

I was going to make it longer and add a bigger scene but i felt like it could be its own chapter

Got a lot of free time this week so i should be able to get the next chapter out pretty soon see ya then


	6. Dating For Idiots

So hey i'm back. sorry about the wait, work is getitng worse and its really bringing me down. Luckily I've got friends, music, and writing to keep my mind off of things.

PS this is a big chapter of romantic filler till a couple more months in the story passes. hope you enjoy anyway

Follow Me Down

Chapter 6: Dating for Idiots

So this was Axel and Roxas' fourth date and Roxas had learned something: Axel was terrible at dating. It's not that he was socially awkward; he just didn't know or care how to act in certain situations. One date they were at a decent restaurant and Axel decided to show off his fire tricks by juggling five small flames. Roxas had to admit it was impressive but as soon as he did out loud Axel dropped one of the flames onto the table, setting it on fire. One fire extinguisher later, the couple was asked to leave and never return.

One night they went to go see a horror movie. It was the latest hack and slash Hollywood spat out. The plot was crap but the effects and the blood detail were amazing so Roxas liked it anyway. Unfortunately every time someone died Axel would laugh loudly. After the third time it seemed like there was going to be a fight between Axel and some punk jock. To cool down the situation Roxas pushed Axel's head into their giant bucket of popcorn. No one was expecting it and a few people applauded after Axel brought his head up. Roxas smirked and took a small bow, earning a pout from Axel. Roxas made it up to his much taller boyfriend by giving him a quick kiss and leading him out of the movie theater.

Those stories were entertaining to tell but they weren't really good dates. Roxas was hoping tonight would be different. He had no idea where he was going as he was just following Axel while holding his hand. Some people made faces at the two but Roxas matched their looks with a deadly looking scowl that instantly made those people back away. _Still extremely satisfying, _Roxas thought. Axel chuckled at his short boyfriend. "Calm down Roxy or I'll kiss that scowl off your face!"

Roxas aimed his scowl at Axel, who was sadly impervious to its effects after being around the moody teen for so long. "Try me stalker." Axel leaned down and kissed Roxas, gently nipping at his bottom lip. Roxas gasped at the bite allowing Axel access to stick his tongue into Roxas' mouth. After about 10 seconds of mouth sex Axel backed off with a smirk. Roxas face was red and he had a spaced look on his face. "I told ya I could."

Roxas put his scowl back on and kept walking. "Tease."

Axel broke down laughing but when he realized that Roxas was still walking he ran after him. "Wait! You're supposed to be following me!"

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Axel led Roxas to a family owned burger place. "Their burgers aren't anything special, but I figured after the crap you make and eat at your job this stuff would be heaven in your mouth." Roxas shrugged and followed Axel inside. Roxas was greeted by the smell of real food being cooked, which Roxas greeted with a small smile. "I'll go get the food. You go grab a booth." Axel pointed over to the front counter. Roxas nodded and slid into a corner booth and stared at the growing sunset.

After a few minutes Axel came back with massive burgers, onion rings and vanilla shakes. "Enjoy! American food at its finest!"

Roxas rolled his eyes and grabbed his food. "No I make American food at its finest. We have a gold standard and everything!" He sounded as sarcastic as possible. Axel chucked again. "You're sense of humor is priceless." Roxas turns a little red and started to devour his burger. It tasted amazing; just like the ones Hayner made during the summer. Add deep fried onion rings and a thick milkshake and Roxas was a happy teenager.

There wasn't much conversation between the two; they focused on enjoying their food. They sent each other small smiles in-between bites. It was a nice date, but Roxas was still looking for fire extinguishers. Axel rolled his eyes at the teen. "Don't worry I won't cause any more fires. You'll just have to use my body to keep you warm." He finished the comment off with a suggestive wink. Roxas just rolled his eyes but smiled a little.

"Alright glow stick now for the real reason we came here." Roxas glared at Axel, glowing eyes and everything; but Axel just laughed and went up to the front counter. He quickly came back with two big sundae bowls. He handed one to Roxas and led him around the back of the store. On the other side there was a whole array of ice cream flavors, syrups, and toppings. "Alright cutie, dig in!"

Roxas was in shock by all the options they had at the restaurant. He hadn't even heard of half the flavors. _Must be home made. That means they'll taste better, _Roxas thought as he got three scoops of butterscotch and chocolate swirl. He topped it off with hot caramel, rainbow sprinkles and lemon drops. He went over to axel and saw he had some blue thing in his bowl. "Before I tell you what it is you have to promise not to judge me."

"Axel I always judge you."

Axel pouted again. Roxas thought he looked cute when he pouted. "Break my heart why don't you… Anyway its sea salt ice cream, hot butterscotch with little mini fireballs on top. Need it spicy like me" Axel winked again. In response Roxas just picked up the closest fire extinguishers. Axel quickly put as much distance between the two while saying, "Hey keep that away from me! That stuff takes forever to get out of my clothes!"

Roxas chuckled and put it back. To make it up to Axel he linked arms with him and led the taller man back to their table. Roxas' ice cream had a strange mix of flavors that tasted amazing together. Axel tasted his ice cream and said, "A lot of sweet mixed with some sour, just like my cute Roxy." Roxas frowned and hid his ice cream from the red head. That didn't stop him from eating up some of Axel's ice cream that he had offered the blond. It had a lot of different flavors but the spice of the fireball brought it all together. It really was Axel in a mouthful. Roxas blushed at that thought. _Note to self. Never think or speak Axel and mouthful in the same sentence again._ "I can only assume you're thinking about me Roxy; that blush is reserved for me and me only." Roxas only rolled his eyes and finished his ice cream.

"Thanks Axel this was amazing. I was really hoping we would have a normal date for once." Roxas offered Axel a small smile to go with the joke he made at his expense. Axel just tsked and said. "Well you're going to be sorely disappointed. I'll be right back." Axel left the restaurant with his "work phone" as Axel described it. Or more specifically he had said, "This is a 'work phone'. It's for people with careers and not fast food jobs." Roxas had got so pissed he blew up two light bulbs nearest Axel, effectively scaring the crap out of him. It was definitely a point for Roxas.

Axel came back looking satisfied and before Roxas could ask what the phone call was about he was on Axel's back like a piggyback ride. "C'mon! adventure awaits!" Roxas couldn't help but laugh like a mad man as they ran out of the store.

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Axel carried him all the way to the beach that Roxas had waited at a while back. _he's strong that's for sure! Good, when we get to having sex he can do all the work._ Roxas turned deep red again. _I also did not think that._ Luckily this time Axel didn't notice. when they finally got there, there was a camping kit, a cooler, and a tent already set up. "Normally in this situation parental permission is required, but I figured no one would stop you or us from camping out here for the night. What to do think?" Roxas gave Axel a bewildered look for a few seconds, but when he regained his senses he jumped off of Axel, dumped the contents of his pockets, took off his shirt and raced into the water leaving a laughing Axel behind.

It didn't take Axel long to catch up but when he did there was no hope for the blond. He was mercilessly tossed into the water like a ragdoll. Roxas tried to at least dunk the redhead, but dunking a 6'5" guy was near impossible, so Roxas stuck to splashing Axel as much as possible. Well, inbetween being thrown around like a ragdoll. After a little over an hour of burning off energy, the two relaxed on some beach towels and watched the sun set. Roxas noticed how far away Axel was so he decided to change that. He practically threw himself across Axel, who gave him a quizzical look. Roxas decided to shrug his shit off and continued to lay on top of his boyfriend. Said boyfriend responded with an "Oh hell no!" and quickly pushed Roxas off of him. but just as Roxas was about to get mad, Axel pulled him into his arms, making his head lay on Axel's chest. It was a more comfortable and romantic position to watch the sunset. Axel could smell the vanilla in Roxas' hair and Roxas could listen to Axel's heartbeat.

After the sun set, the two set up a small campfire and had a few s'mores. They would've had more but Axel ate most of the chocolate and Roxas ate all the marshmallows they toasted. It made their kisses very sweet. Sadly the day was really winding down, so they slowly made their way into their tent. They had separate sleeping bags but decided to combine them and fall asleep in each other's arms. After all how else would the two lovebirds end a nearly perfect day?

Sooooo bad news. that writing I mentioned earlier? I've got like 5 or 6 projects unfinished (some fanfics some original) that I really want to finish before I get to far into this so HOPEFULLY I will be back in a week but two weeks at the very latest hope everyone can be patient!


	7. We Made Fireworks?

I'M NOT DEAD!

I'm so sorry about how late this is! This chapter really stumped me and made me take a small break! BUT NOT ANYMORE!

so two things i want to talk about before we get this story on the road again!

ONE! Another shout out to Normal-Is-Boring-96 who was kind enough to PM asking if everything was ok. It doesn't seem like much but one stranger being nice to another? I rarely see it and i think its awesome that someone was kind enough to say something to me! So here's to you Normal-Is-Boring-96! You're still awesome :)

TWO! I've recently started bi-weekly therapy sessions. I have my second appointment wednesday morning after work and I can't wait. I've only had one session and its already been a big help and i have high hopes for the future.

Anyway I'm done rambling ENJOY

Follow Me Down

Chapter 8: I'll Miss You

It was a week before April vacation and Roxas had started up his pre-trip tradition. He had been traveling with and without his parents for a several years now and the week before every trip he would spend as much time with his friends as possible. And yes, that meant he wasn't going to see Axel all week. He taller gave quite the pout when he was given that news and it earned him the Sunday before Roxas left. The pout turned into a loud cheer and Axel tackling Roxas. Roxas couldn't turn down the redhead completely; he'd miss him too much to not see him before he left.

That week Roxas had to work Monday and Tuesday no matter how much he begged his boss to get those days off. But it worked out ok because on Wednesday Olette and Roxas were able to hang out together. She had a physics project she needed help with. Roxas had protested greatly but Olette offered to pay for ice cream afterwards so he agreed to help. Olette was making a project that proved that objects with different mass would fall at the same constant velocity. She was doing it by dropping a golf ball and a ping pong ball at the same time and measuring the time it took them to hit the bottom and their final speed when they hit. While Roxas was helping, he kept snickering to himself. At first Olette ignored it but after about an hour of hearing it Olette finally spoke up. "What do you keep giggling about?"

Roxas instantly scowled. "I don't giggle."

"Then tell me what you were laughing about or I'll tell Axel you giggled."

The bleach blond teen sighed and rolled his eyes. "This just reminds me of when Hayner and I dropped balloons full of pink paint on Seifer and his goons. Their faces were priceless! Maybe we can do that again for your project!"

It was Olette's turn to scowl. "Yeah because it went so well the first time! You remember how they beat the crap out of you two afterwards? Do you also remember how I had to take care of you guys so you wouldn't get in trouble?"

"And I thanked you constantly for that." Hayner kept telling her he was fine and he didn't need her help instead of thanking her. "Besides, you love taking care of us."

"Yeah I do, but you don't have to make it such a tough job!"

"Sorry Mom!"

They both shared a good laugh as they finished up her project and head out for some ice cream. After ordering, Olette decided to finally speak her mind. "I've wanted to tell you this for a while, but I think Axel is really good for you." Roxas gave her a curious look. "It's very subtle, like most of your emotions, but you've been happier the past few months and it makes me smile to see you smile more than once a month." Roxas playfully shoved Olette. She laughed and continued. "It's true! I'm not telling you how to run you love life, but I want him to stick around as long as he continues to make you happy. Roxas looked around quickly and when he saw that the coast was clear, he gave Olette a rare hug. Olette giggled and hugged back.

Tender moment over, Roxas realized something. "Wait, did you just hint at us getting married?!"

"Why, no! Of course not! You're overthinking things!" Olette said playfully as she giggled. Roxas grumbled quietly as he walked her home.

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As Wednesday passed and Thursday took its place, Roxas found himself lounging around with Pence at his house. While it was no secret that Pence was really good with computers, he had no plans to make a career out of them. What he really wanted to do was become a bestselling author. He was always jotting some notes here and there about one idea or another. He never nixed and idea because he didn't know where he could take it. Recently he had been going through a sci-fi phase and Roxas knew that his powers would be amazing material for whatever plots were bounding around Pence's head. So for the past couple weeks Roxas had been showing Pence all the things he had learned and all the things Axel had showed him. Pence never mentioned how much of an actual story he had written but Roxas had seen him almost fill a notebook with just notes about Roxas.

Roxas was currently in the process of showing Pence a new trick he learned. He had the light spectrum spread out in front of him. He closed his eyes and focused on Pence. As he did the light spectrum was slowly taken over by yellows of all different hues and shades. Pence was watching intently with a look of curiosity. Roxas opened his eyes and explained. "I've learned that if I focus on a person, the color that represents them the most appears. Yellow means intelligence and creativity. Describes you best, Pence."

Pence laughed and turned a little red from embarrassment. "Thanks man. Another neat trick." He started to write some more notes but quickly finished. "Alright I'm going to ask this now to get it out of the way. Did Axel teach you any offensive moves yet?"

Roxas shook his head. He had asked Axel to teach him some attacks several times but each time Axel gave him a stony gaze and said no. while Roxas really did want to learn everything about his ability, he knew each time that he wouldn't be able to push Axel on this. So he dropped it, like a good boyfriend.

Pence spoke up again. "Well maybe it's what he thinks is best. He's obviously involved in some sort of organization that may or may not be hostile for all you know. Maybe Axel wants to shield you from all of it."

Roxas rolled his eyes a little. "Yeah I can't really disagree. I hate to admit it but he does have a good, usable brain underneath all of that hair."

Pence looked up from his notebook and just smiled at Roxas. Roxas gave the other teen a confused look. "What? Are my eyes still glowing?"

Pence chuckled and responded, "No but do you realize that you just gave someone a compliment without anyone having to pull it out of you?" Roxas gave Pence a weak glare which just caused the slightly chubby teen to laugh again. Roxas got comfortable on a couch while Pence got the laughs out of his system. When he was done, Pence started to explain himself. "Hey I do have a serious point here underneath the part where I get to make fun of you. You're slowly opening up more around other people; you give compliments, your scowls are less frequent, and I've started to hear you talk more in class. Those all seem like small things but I know it's a big change for you and I bet a certain red head has something to do with it!" The speech Pence was giving had made Roxas give the other teen a scowl but he couldn't deny that Pence was right.

Regardless, Pence continued. "While Axel may not be the most straightforward person in the world, he has had a big positive effect on you. And I know he treats you well, so how could I not support your relationship. And I see the smiles on his face when you two are around, I'd bet good money that he doesn't smile like that any other time unless you're involved. You two might not be perfect for each other but you two are really close. I hope you guys stick together."

Roxas gave Pence a small smile. "Sure. I can do that."

Pence smile widely at his friend. "Good! I'm glad! But you better not come back with a ring on your finger!" Roxas turned beat red and punched Pence in the shoulder, which only made him laugh harder.

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Friday was finally here and Roxas thought it couldn't have come any sooner. He had plans to spend the night at Hayner's house doing whatever the hell they wanted, legal or illegal. Hayner brought out the wild side in Roxas but you would never hear either blond complaining about their adventures. He grabbed his skateboard and quickly raced over to a plain looking apartment complex. Roxas knew that Hayner was going to meet him outside, but he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly he felt something smack him and then a lot of wetness.

He whipped around to see Hayner with a smirk on his face and a water balloon in his hand. He was also standing next to a bucket full of balloons. "Your bucket is hidden somewhere outside. You have ten seconds to find it." Roxas spend about two seconds in shock but when he snapped out of it he knew exactly where Hayner had hidden it. Roxas found his bucket at seven and Hayner had a face full of water at nine. The dirty blond frowned but quickly retaliated, which led to an all-out war!

Two buckets of water balloons later, the two finally called the war a tie. They were both drenched to the bone but were wearing identically goofy smiles. They decided to go up to Hayner's apartment to clean up. Roxas jumped right into Hayner's shower to get all the grime off of himself. He didn't have to worry about a change of clothes because he always had an outfit or two at his house, and vice versa for Roxas' house.

Roxas thought that Hayner had it pretty good. What most people didn't know was that Hayner's parents were also rich. They had felt that as a teenager he would need his own space so they got him his spacious apartment. They paid all his bills except food; for that they gave him $200 a month to budget accordingly. It sounds like the best thing in the world but the truth about it was that his parents really wanted the house to themselves for their "adult" parties; the ones with drugs, alcohol, and "class". Roxas always thought how they were still better than his parents because Hayner's parents always stopped by for his birthday and Christmas. _Can't say that about mine._

Roxas shrugged that off when Hayner came in the living room with two XL pizzas for them to pig out on. The two dug in while they watched generic action movies. They always did it to pass the time; it was fun to laugh at the bad acting and terrible fight scenes.

Halfway through the second movie Hayner spoke up on something serious. "So you're still planning a huge round the world trip after high school right?" Roxas nodded cautiously. Hayner continued. "Well where does Axel fit in?" Roxas quickly opened his mouth to say the obvious when he realized that there was no obvious answer.

Hayner frowned. "I'm guessing you didn't think about it, did you? You're going to need to figure it out soon. Next week will be a test run to see how distance will play with you two but after that you need to figure out what you're going to do with him. Axel is a great guy who treats you amazingly and makes you happy, that much is obvious. And I can see that you feel the same about him; its plain as day. But are you going to leave him when you go on your trip? Or are you going to bring him with you?"

Roxas had no idea what to say, at least not to Hayner. Being speechless was something new to Roxas. It didn't sit well with him. Hayner saw the dilemma on his friend's face and quickly spoke up. "Hey I just wanted to bring it up with you not make you all depressed and shit. C'mon cheer up! Look, another crappy green screen scene!" Roxas looked up at the movie and saw a guy reacting terribly to a green screen explosion. It made Roxas laugh and relax again.

As the movie was coming to an end Hayner spoke up again. "Hey I'm going to be your best man right?" Roxas swiftly chucked an empty pizza box and the teen's head.

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It was Sunday and Roxas was once again waiting on the beach for Axel. Roxas had spent Saturday with Pence, Olette and Hayner and even though he had a lot of fun with them he was really looking forward to Sunday so he could see Axel before his overnight flight. Roxas suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he could smell a mix of lighter fluid and Old Spice. It was a weird combination but he liked it because he knew it was Axel's scent. "Hey Axe."

"Hey glow stick. Miss me?"

Roxas scowled again. "Not anymore."

Axel pouted, which Roxas found cute again. "Aww but I missed you!" Roxas chuckled and gave the older man a kiss. Axel kissed back happily. "So Roxy what do you have planned for tonight?" Just as Roxas was about to answer he saw a man holding an XL pizza and went over to him to pay for it. He came back to Axel with a goofy grin on his face. "I don't have the patience for cooking so this will have to do." Axel couldn't help but laugh and peer inside the pizza box. The pizza was Hawaiian, his favorite. "How did you know which kind of pizza was the best in the world?"

Roxas shrugged. "It was a lucky guess, really."

"Whoa Roxy, are you being humble? This is so new and confusing!" Roxas scowled again and flicked Axel in the forehead. Axel yelped a little and pouted again, which made him laugh at his expense. "You have the maturity of a five year old."

"Someone has to balance out the fact that you have a stick up your ass."

Roxas shoved the man and sat down on the sand. "Shut up and eat pizza with me."

And that's what they did. They listened to the waves crash against the beach and ate pizza while they leaned against each other. It was a peaceful moment and it was obvious that the beach had become their spot. When the pizza was finished they laid in each other's arms, absorbing each other's warmth, scent and smiles.

As the sun started to set Roxas knew he had to leave. He gave a kiss to Axel as he slowly got up. "Wait, Roxas."

Roxas immediately stopped moving. Axel quickly got up and slipped something into Roxas' hand. Roxas eyed the object curiously: It was Axel's favorite light. It was a simple Zippo lighter but it had an extremely detailed flame printed on it. Axel never explained why it was his favorite but he knew that it was important to him. "Axel… are you sure?"

Axel nodded and gave him a soft smile. "I won't be there to protect you while you're out there but I'll feel better if you take that with you. It'll keep you safe as much as you'll keep it safe. I… I love you Roxas and I can't wait to see you when you return home." Roxas almost cried on the spot. He had never had someone share those kinds of feelings with him. He was glad Axel shared them with him. "I love you too Axel. And I promise to keep it safe."

Axel lit up like a Christmas tree and hugged him tightly. "Now I can't let you go! You're mine forever!" Roxas could feel himself losing the air in his lungs but he quickly wiggled his way out of Axel's embrace. "You know I have to go but I** promise** to call you every night ok?" Axel nodded quickly and eagerly. Roxas smiled again and chuckled. "C'mon. Race you to my house!" and with hat the two booked it to Roxas' home.

So i'm sorry if the ending seems rushed I have to work in about an hour but I wanted this up before I left.

I had planned this to be a short extra chapter but it turned into the longest yet! weird huh?

Anyway with this out of the way i should be back to writing regularly! See you next chapter!

Oh! One more thing! I'm trying something new and I'm going to be sharing the last song I listened to while i finished each chapter! This chapter I finished with The Man Who Never Lied By Maroon 5. Doesn't actually connect to the story but its a really sweet/sad song so whatever!


	8. I'll Miss You

I'M NOT DEAD!

I'm so sorry about how late this is! This chapter really stumped me and made me take a small break! BUT NOT ANYMORE!

so two things i want to talk about before we get this story on the road again!

ONE! Another shout out to Normal-Is-Boring-96 who was kind enough to PM asking if everything was ok. It doesn't seem like much but one stranger being nice to another? I rarely see it and i think its awesome that someone was kind enough to say something to me! So here's to you Normal-Is-Boring-96! You're still awesome :)

TWO! I've recently started bi-weekly therapy sessions. I have my second appointment wednesday morning after work and I can't wait. I've only had one session and its already been a big help and i have high hopes for the future.

Anyway I'm done rambling ENJOY

Follow Me Down

Chapter 8: I'll Miss You

It was a week before April vacation and Roxas had started up his pre-trip tradition. He had been traveling with and without his parents for a several years now and the week before every trip he would spend as much time with his friends as possible. And yes, that meant he wasn't going to see Axel all week. He taller gave quite the pout when he was given that news and it earned him the Sunday before Roxas left. The pout turned into a loud cheer and Axel tackling Roxas. Roxas couldn't turn down the redhead completely; he'd miss him too much to not see him before he left.

That week Roxas had to work Monday and Tuesday no matter how much he begged his boss to get those days off. But it worked out ok because on Wednesday Olette and Roxas were able to hang out together. She had a physics project she needed help with. Roxas had protested greatly but Olette offered to pay for ice cream afterwards so he agreed to help. Olette was making a project that proved that objects with different mass would fall at the same constant velocity. She was doing it by dropping a golf ball and a ping pong ball at the same time and measuring the time it took them to hit the bottom and their final speed when they hit. While Roxas was helping, he kept snickering to himself. At first Olette ignored it but after about an hour of hearing it Olette finally spoke up. "What do you keep giggling about?"

Roxas instantly scowled. "I don't giggle."

"Then tell me what you were laughing about or I'll tell Axel you giggled."

The bleach blond teen sighed and rolled his eyes. "This just reminds me of when Hayner and I dropped balloons full of pink paint on Seifer and his goons. Their faces were priceless! Maybe we can do that again for your project!"

It was Olette's turn to scowl. "Yeah because it went so well the first time! You remember how they beat the crap out of you two afterwards? Do you also remember how I had to take care of you guys so you wouldn't get in trouble?"

"And I thanked you constantly for that." Hayner kept telling her he was fine and he didn't need her help instead of thanking her. "Besides, you love taking care of us."

"Yeah I do, but you don't have to make it such a tough job!"

"Sorry Mom!"

They both shared a good laugh as they finished up her project and head out for some ice cream. After ordering, Olette decided to finally speak her mind. "I've wanted to tell you this for a while, but I think Axel is really good for you." Roxas gave her a curious look. "It's very subtle, like most of your emotions, but you've been happier the past few months and it makes me smile to see you smile more than once a month." Roxas playfully shoved Olette. She laughed and continued. "It's true! I'm not telling you how to run you love life, but I want him to stick around as long as he continues to make you happy. Roxas looked around quickly and when he saw that the coast was clear, he gave Olette a rare hug. Olette giggled and hugged back.

Tender moment over, Roxas realized something. "Wait, did you just hint at us getting married?!"

"Why, no! Of course not! You're overthinking things!" Olette said playfully as she giggled. Roxas grumbled quietly as he walked her home.

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As Wednesday passed and Thursday took its place, Roxas found himself lounging around with Pence at his house. While it was no secret that Pence was really good with computers, he had no plans to make a career out of them. What he really wanted to do was become a bestselling author. He was always jotting some notes here and there about one idea or another. He never nixed and idea because he didn't know where he could take it. Recently he had been going through a sci-fi phase and Roxas knew that his powers would be amazing material for whatever plots were bounding around Pence's head. So for the past couple weeks Roxas had been showing Pence all the things he had learned and all the things Axel had showed him. Pence never mentioned how much of an actual story he had written but Roxas had seen him almost fill a notebook with just notes about Roxas.

Roxas was currently in the process of showing Pence a new trick he learned. He had the light spectrum spread out in front of him. He closed his eyes and focused on Pence. As he did the light spectrum was slowly taken over by yellows of all different hues and shades. Pence was watching intently with a look of curiosity. Roxas opened his eyes and explained. "I've learned that if I focus on a person, the color that represents them the most appears. Yellow means intelligence and creativity. Describes you best, Pence."

Pence laughed and turned a little red from embarrassment. "Thanks man. Another neat trick." He started to write some more notes but quickly finished. "Alright I'm going to ask this now to get it out of the way. Did Axel teach you any offensive moves yet?"

Roxas shook his head. He had asked Axel to teach him some attacks several times but each time Axel gave him a stony gaze and said no. while Roxas really did want to learn everything about his ability, he knew each time that he wouldn't be able to push Axel on this. So he dropped it, like a good boyfriend.

Pence spoke up again. "Well maybe it's what he thinks is best. He's obviously involved in some sort of organization that may or may not be hostile for all you know. Maybe Axel wants to shield you from all of it."

Roxas rolled his eyes a little. "Yeah I can't really disagree. I hate to admit it but he does have a good, usable brain underneath all of that hair."

Pence looked up from his notebook and just smiled at Roxas. Roxas gave the other teen a confused look. "What? Are my eyes still glowing?"

Pence chuckled and responded, "No but do you realize that you just gave someone a compliment without anyone having to pull it out of you?" Roxas gave Pence a weak glare which just caused the slightly chubby teen to laugh again. Roxas got comfortable on a couch while Pence got the laughs out of his system. When he was done, Pence started to explain himself. "Hey I do have a serious point here underneath the part where I get to make fun of you. You're slowly opening up more around other people; you give compliments, your scowls are less frequent, and I've started to hear you talk more in class. Those all seem like small things but I know it's a big change for you and I bet a certain red head has something to do with it!" The speech Pence was giving had made Roxas give the other teen a scowl but he couldn't deny that Pence was right.

Regardless, Pence continued. "While Axel may not be the most straightforward person in the world, he has had a big positive effect on you. And I know he treats you well, so how could I not support your relationship. And I see the smiles on his face when you two are around, I'd bet good money that he doesn't smile like that any other time unless you're involved. You two might not be perfect for each other but you two are really close. I hope you guys stick together."

Roxas gave Pence a small smile. "Sure. I can do that."

Pence smile widely at his friend. "Good! I'm glad! But you better not come back with a ring on your finger!" Roxas turned beat red and punched Pence in the shoulder, which only made him laugh harder.

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Friday was finally here and Roxas thought it couldn't have come any sooner. He had plans to spend the night at Hayner's house doing whatever the hell they wanted, legal or illegal. Hayner brought out the wild side in Roxas but you would never hear either blond complaining about their adventures. He grabbed his skateboard and quickly raced over to a plain looking apartment complex. Roxas knew that Hayner was going to meet him outside, but he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly he felt something smack him and then a lot of wetness.

He whipped around to see Hayner with a smirk on his face and a water balloon in his hand. He was also standing next to a bucket full of balloons. "Your bucket is hidden somewhere outside. You have ten seconds to find it." Roxas spend about two seconds in shock but when he snapped out of it he knew exactly where Hayner had hidden it. Roxas found his bucket at seven and Hayner had a face full of water at nine. The dirty blond frowned but quickly retaliated, which led to an all-out war!

Two buckets of water balloons later, the two finally called the war a tie. They were both drenched to the bone but were wearing identically goofy smiles. They decided to go up to Hayner's apartment to clean up. Roxas jumped right into Hayner's shower to get all the grime off of himself. He didn't have to worry about a change of clothes because he always had an outfit or two at his house, and vice versa for Roxas' house.

Roxas thought that Hayner had it pretty good. What most people didn't know was that Hayner's parents were also rich. They had felt that as a teenager he would need his own space so they got him his spacious apartment. They paid all his bills except food; for that they gave him $200 a month to budget accordingly. It sounds like the best thing in the world but the truth about it was that his parents really wanted the house to themselves for their "adult" parties; the ones with drugs, alcohol, and "class". Roxas always thought how they were still better than his parents because Hayner's parents always stopped by for his birthday and Christmas. _Can't say that about mine._

Roxas shrugged that off when Hayner came in the living room with two XL pizzas for them to pig out on. The two dug in while they watched generic action movies. They always did it to pass the time; it was fun to laugh at the bad acting and terrible fight scenes.

Halfway through the second movie Hayner spoke up on something serious. "So you're still planning a huge round the world trip after high school right?" Roxas nodded cautiously. Hayner continued. "Well where does Axel fit in?" Roxas quickly opened his mouth to say the obvious when he realized that there was no obvious answer.

Hayner frowned. "I'm guessing you didn't think about it, did you? You're going to need to figure it out soon. Next week will be a test run to see how distance will play with you two but after that you need to figure out what you're going to do with him. Axel is a great guy who treats you amazingly and makes you happy, that much is obvious. And I can see that you feel the same about him; its plain as day. But are you going to leave him when you go on your trip? Or are you going to bring him with you?"

Roxas had no idea what to say, at least not to Hayner. Being speechless was something new to Roxas. It didn't sit well with him. Hayner saw the dilemma on his friend's face and quickly spoke up. "Hey I just wanted to bring it up with you not make you all depressed and shit. C'mon cheer up! Look, another crappy green screen scene!" Roxas looked up at the movie and saw a guy reacting terribly to a green screen explosion. It made Roxas laugh and relax again.

As the movie was coming to an end Hayner spoke up again. "Hey I'm going to be your best man right?" Roxas swiftly chucked an empty pizza box and the teen's head.

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It was Sunday and Roxas was once again waiting on the beach for Axel. Roxas had spent Saturday with Pence, Olette and Hayner and even though he had a lot of fun with them he was really looking forward to Sunday so he could see Axel before his overnight flight. Roxas suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he could smell a mix of lighter fluid and Old Spice. It was a weird combination but he liked it because he knew it was Axel's scent. "Hey Axe."

"Hey glow stick. Miss me?"

Roxas scowled again. "Not anymore."

Axel pouted, which Roxas found cute again. "Aww but I missed you!" Roxas chuckled and gave the older man a kiss. Axel kissed back happily. "So Roxy what do you have planned for tonight?" Just as Roxas was about to answer he saw a man holding an XL pizza and went over to him to pay for it. He came back to Axel with a goofy grin on his face. "I don't have the patience for cooking so this will have to do." Axel couldn't help but laugh and peer inside the pizza box. The pizza was Hawaiian, his favorite. "How did you know which kind of pizza was the best in the world?"

Roxas shrugged. "It was a lucky guess, really."

"Whoa Roxy, are you being humble? This is so new and confusing!" Roxas scowled again and flicked Axel in the forehead. Axel yelped a little and pouted again, which made him laugh at his expense. "You have the maturity of a five year old."

"Someone has to balance out the fact that you have a stick up your ass."

Roxas shoved the man and sat down on the sand. "Shut up and eat pizza with me."

And that's what they did. They listened to the waves crash against the beach and ate pizza while they leaned against each other. It was a peaceful moment and it was obvious that the beach had become their spot. When the pizza was finished they laid in each other's arms, absorbing each other's warmth, scent and smiles.

As the sun started to set Roxas knew he had to leave. He gave a kiss to Axel as he slowly got up. "Wait, Roxas."

Roxas immediately stopped moving. Axel quickly got up and slipped something into Roxas' hand. Roxas eyed the object curiously: It was Axel's favorite light. It was a simple Zippo lighter but it had an extremely detailed flame printed on it. Axel never explained why it was his favorite but he knew that it was important to him. "Axel… are you sure?"

Axel nodded and gave him a soft smile. "I won't be there to protect you while you're out there but I'll feel better if you take that with you. It'll keep you safe as much as you'll keep it safe. I… I love you Roxas and I can't wait to see you when you return home." Roxas almost cried on the spot. He had never had someone share those kinds of feelings with him. He was glad Axel shared them with him. "I love you too Axel. And I promise to keep it safe."

Axel lit up like a Christmas tree and hugged him tightly. "Now I can't let you go! You're mine forever!" Roxas could feel himself losing the air in his lungs but he quickly wiggled his way out of Axel's embrace. "You know I have to go but I** promise** to call you every night ok?" Axel nodded quickly and eagerly. Roxas smiled again and chuckled. "C'mon. Race you to my house!" and with hat the two booked it to Roxas' home.

So i'm sorry if the ending seems rushed I have to work in about an hour but I wanted this up before I left.

I had planned this to be a short extra chapter but it turned into the longest yet! weird huh?

Anyway with this out of the way i should be back to writing regularly! See you next chapter!

Oh! One more thing! I'm trying something new and I'm going to be sharing the last song I listened to while i finished each chapter! This chapter I finished with The Man Who Never Lied By Maroon 5. Doesn't actually connect to the story but its a really sweet/sad song so whatever!


	9. This Tourist Can Kick Your Ass

So hey look at that! Another chapter done! didn't expect to have this done so soon!

So this is Roxas' trip to London. A LOT of research was put into this and the only thing I ignored was how Roxas traveled to each place. I wasn't going to into details about it because its not interesting.

Anyway I don't really like this chapter up until halfway through. But I hope you guys enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Chapter 9: This Tourist Can Kick Your Ass

Every trip starts with travel. Roxas had hoped that since he was 18 AND had paid for this trip by himself, he would be left alone by his parents. Roxas was never that lucky. When Roxas and Axel reached Roxas' home they saw that his parents were home and Roxas got Axel to leave pretty quickly. Roxas did want him to meet his parents but not leave him alone with them for a week while he was gone.

He was changing in his room listening to his parents talk about how proud they were but that quickly changed to them talking about what he was going to do after college, how he doesn't need to travel the world for a living, how they had several "special" people they wanted to meet. Roxas knew this all too well and he knew there was only one thing that was going to stop them from trying to plan out his life; at least for that day.

Roxas walked out of his room with his bag and carryon and just like every other time when his parents saw him they froze. Roxas was wearing black trip pants with several chains, a skin tight black shirt, black eyeliner, black nail polish, and scream blasting as loud as possible through his headphones. His parents immediately stated their disapproval, going on and on about how this wasn't how a mature human being acted; how it was embarrassing for them to be seen out in public with him, etc. His original plan was to take a shuttle to the airport, but his parents had called and canceled it. That meant he got to spend the whole ride there smiling at his parents.

That ride was torture for everyone involved but two hours before the flight landed in London. Roxas quickly left his parents in their car and went to check in. he didn't have to worry about them though because they followed him to the checkout, to the security checkpoint, and even to the gate. Luckily they had just called to board the plane just as Roxas got there. He very quickly said goodbye to his parents. They looked like they had plenty more to say but Roxas was already long gone.

Roxas didn't let out a sigh of relief until the plane took off and the wear seatbelt sign came off. He took his carryon and went straight to the bathroom. He used makeup and nail polish remover to take off the eyeliner and nail polish. He also changed into a regular set of clothes he stashed in the bag. When he went back to his seat the other passengers gave him a confused look but he just brushed them off and went to sleep.

The flight lasted about 8 ½ hours and Roxas only slept about 3 hours of it. Not that it was really a bad thing, it was about 9pm when he left and it was 4 in the morning when they touched down. Needless to say Roxas was exhausted. He quickly got his bag called a taxi and headed right for the hotel he booked himself. It was far from fancy but he had plans to spend his money elsewhere.

He sent his friends each a text letting him know he got there safe but when he got to Axel he stopped. He had plenty to say to him but not over the phone. He decided to say the most important thing: **I love you.**

After a few minutes of tense but patient waiting his phone buzzed: **I love you too. Stay safe**.

Roxas rolled his eyes but his heart was pounding out of his chest. This was all new to him, but welcome. He held Axel's light closely to him. No one would dare try to take that from him. He'd die before he gave that up.

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Roxas had pretty much thrown his sleep schedule out the window. Waking up at 3pm was weird put unavoidable. Roxas showered changed grabbed a quick breakfast and headed out to explore.

The first place on Roxas' list was the Ripley Believe It or Not museum. He was super excited for the exhibits there. He got tons of pictures of stuff like the yarn Ferrari, a giant shark jaw, and of course the real life Optimus Prime. Roxas wasn't a giant fan of Transformers but even he had a fan-boy moment. He didn't stick around too long at the world's tallest man. He didn't want another reason to feel short. But after all of that his favorite thing was laser race.

The goal of the laser race was to race down a couple hallways filled with lasers and the point was to get to the end as fast as possible without touching any lasers. As the buzzer went off for Roxas to start, he smirked. _Piece of cake; lasers are light right?_ Roxas expertly maneuvered around the lasers. Any lasers he tripped stopped them from registering that they went off. They couldn't register if the laser didn't bounce back. His powers were growing every week. He finished in near record time; couldn't raise a red flag and make people think that he cheated, right?

After that adventure was over he decided to stop at a little café to get something to eat. The café was near the Big Ben so he was able to admire the architecture of the building without having to pay to get inside. As he was sipping some coffee he noticed the sounds around him started to dim a little bit. He looked around to try to understand what was going on but couldn't figure anything out. Eventually there was no sound except for a quiet crinkling sound, like someone crushing candy wrappers and tinfoil together. He was trying not to panic but this had never happened to him before. Then he saw the eyes. They were bright yellow, coming from a dark alleyway. Roxas looked around to see if anyone else saw them but no, nothing. He threw some money on the table and chased after the eyes.

As he ran into the alleyway the crinkling noise grew louder. He looked franticly for the source of the noise or the eyes he saw but there was nothing. Eventually the sounds of traffic flooded back into Roxas' ears making him jump. _I guess it's gone now._ Roxas decided to call it a day at that. As he flagged down a cab and got in he realized that he had gotten out Axel's lighter without realizing it.

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The next day Roxas went down to see The Mousetrap. It was another one of Agatha Christie's murder mysteries and while Roxas wasn't extremely interested in them, the show had been going on for years so he wanted to see what was so special about it.

With the smooth acting and the creepy undertones of the play, Roxas found himself easily sucked in to the story; well for the most part. His mind kept drifting to the alleyway yesterday but he snapped back to reality whenever he thought he heard a hint to the killer. In the end he enjoyed the twist and the play itself, but he still felt a little chilled from the alleyway. He decided to take a nice swim in the pool at his hotel. _Can't say no to a free swim._

As the sun set, Roxas quickly made his way over to the London Eye. It was going to be weird for Roxas to go on a Ferris wheel by himself but it looked amazing either way. The whole wheel was lit up brilliant colors. Roxas' turn eventually came and he was extremely excited.

As he reached the top he looked over the city. It was an amazing view! And as nice as it was Roxas wished Axel was there to see it with him. Instead Roxas quickly took out his phone and Axel's lighter. He lit the lighter near his face to light him up and sent a picture of it to Axel with a message **thinking of you.**

As he started to reach the bottom he felt his phone go off. **So this is how you do romance? I like it. I want to see more of this side of you when you get back.**

Roxas rolled his eyes but he could tell his face was red. He kept up the pleasant conversation until he fell asleep in the hotel later that night.

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On the third day, Roxas had planned to explore as many scary spots as possible. He wasn't the type to be easily scared so he cherished the moments he was. Unfortunately most of the places he visited that day weren't even the least scary. He visited the Grenadier, which was supposed to be a haunted hotel thing but it held nothing for Roxas. He went to go visit The London Dungeon but turns out that was funnier than anything else. It made him feel like he was in a B-rated horror movie so he quickly left. He visited 4 different haunted tube stations but nothing again. At that point Roxas had a permanent scowl on his face. He decided to try one more place before he gave up for the day.

His last stop of the day was the Highgate Cemetery. There wasn't anything exclusively haunted about it but a cemetery is still scary at night. Plus Roxas was able to admire all the tombstones and crypts. Roxas was slowly becoming really interested in architecture and he didn't even know it.

As he was walking through the cemetery taking pictures of this and that he heard the crinkling noise again. He looked around to see the source but instead of finding it he found out he was completely alone. The moon was out but it only offered a little light, not enough to investigate the sound. He flicked open Axel's Zippo and used the light from the fire to turn his hand into a giant light. He saw literally nothing but tombstones. Needless to say Roxas was scared, and not in a good way. He quickly made his way towards the exit but got lost and was soon face to face with **several** pairs of yellow eyes.

Roxas freaked. He quickly threw his ball of light into the eyes and booked it in the opposite direction. He was trying his best not to trip over any tombstones and was doing a pretty good job. Unfortunately he looked behind him and saw that not only were the eyes following him, there were more of them. _Fuck they're multiplying!_ Roxas had no idea what to do and he had a limited amount of light coming from the lighter. He just kept throwing balls of light at the eyes but he was wearing down and he was running out of energy. Suddenly he heard a loud whistle. He looked over to see Axel standing with two weird circles with spikes around them. "It's not nice to beat up tourists. They're just trying to enjoy the sights."

Normally Roxas would roll his eyes at Axel's comment but he was so relieved to see him that he didn't care; he just rushed over to his side and faced the eyes again. "I've never been so happy to see your outrageous hair before."

Axel smirked, playing off the obvious danger. "Oh but my hair just adds to my gorgeous looks that I know you love."

"Axel what do we do?" Axel, seeing that they couldn't keep ignoring the wall of darkness closing in on them, decided that it was time to act. "Here, this will help you fight back." Suddenly Axel's weapons (Roxas wanted to call them circles of death to tease Axel but once again not the time) caught on fire lighting up the area. Roxas was finally able to get a good look at the attacking creatures.

There were probably 50 of them. All of them small and dark. They had twitchy movements, like they were having seizures. There was no face on any of them, just the eyes that seemed to devour Roxas the longer he looked into them. Axel's voice snapped Roxas back to reality. "Ready? Here's your first field test."

Roxas nodded and quickly absorbed as much light from Axel's flames as possible. "I have an idea, cover me. When I say move, move." Axel nodded and jumped into the fray, slicing one "shadow" after another. Roxas slowly started to build up energy in his hands. It felt like he had a storm in his palms. When he felt like he had enough energy he screamed, "MOVE!"

Axel didn't need to be told twice. Just as he jumped out of the way he felt white hot energy fly past him. He saw the bright light hit one set of eyes and it quickly bounced to another and another and another until every single one was struck. The light looked like a lightning bolt and eventually all of the shadows dissipated at the same time. Axel was once again shocked. He looked over at Roxas who looked like he could barely stand up. Axel willed away his Chakrams and caught Roxas just as he was about to fall over. The last thing Roxas heard before he passed out was. "I'll explain everything when you wake up. Everything."

There! Roxas being a badass, like he should be!

This wasn't supposed to take a scary turn. From the beginning I was going to create a theme park that was based off of Alice In Wonderland (I hinted at it in the first chapter) but that was going to be a lot of work. Plus I was watching this scary movie called Untraceable (awesome movie watch it!) and then I started to look up scary places and the alleyway idea popped into my head! Oh and special shoutout to whoever can guess where the crinkling noise is from! hint its a game! maybe i'll write a short story for whoever can guess it!

Anyway next chapter the Organization will FINALLY be introduced! Jeez that took forever.

Ps. the song of this chapter was Waiting by Breathe Carolina. Once again no connection to the story but still an awesome song and an amazing band.


	10. Part One: At Least It's Not A Fauxhawk

So I love how fast I'm getting these chapters out!

I have plenty to say but its better to say it at the end!

Enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Chapter 10 Part One: At Least It's Not A Fauxhawk

As Roxas slowly faded back into consciousness he heard a familiar manly voice and one that wasn't familiar. He tried to open his eyes and figure out whom else was talking but everything was bright and blurry. In his panic Roxas tried to move away from the new voice but Axel held him down. "Whoa hey Roxas, calm down. Demyx is here to help." Roxas frowned, relaxed, and closed his eyes. After a few more minutes of collecting himself he reopened his eyes.

He saw that he was back in his hotel room. He was covered in cuts and bruises but most were already healed. Axel was holding his hand sitting on one side of his and on the other was a tall blond man with the strangest haircut. _Is it a mullet or a Mohawk?_ The new guy waved one hand and kept his other on a glowing spot on his ankle. "Hey there stranger! I'm Demyx! I'm here to make you feel better. Those shadows did a number on you."

When Demyx finished Axel spoke up. "So he'll clean up all the cuts and bruises but I'll kiss and make them better." Axel quickly started doing just that starting with a cut on his neck and slowly trailed kisses down his body; it was made easier due to the fact that Roxas didn't have a shirt on. Roxas absolutely loved the feeling but he wasn't being comfortable being intimate in front of a stranger. He started to squirm to try to get Axel to stop. "Axel, not in front of a stranger!"

Axel stopped. He had a guilty look on his face. His voice was even, a little bit of sadness evident in it. "But I have to make it up for not protecting you."

Roxas' heart melted. He literally pulled Axel on top of him. It hurt Roxas but he didn't care; he wanted to hold Axel and show that everything was going to be ok. "Listen Axe don't worry. Just stay right here. That's all that matters right now." Axel knew that it was rare for Roxas to be this openly romantic so he cherished this moment while it was there. He curled himself gently around Roxas, almost protectively. As the couple was enjoying their tender moment, there was a cough from the doorway. The two looked up at Demyx who was standing outside, ready to leave. "Hey you guys look like you need a moment to each other so I'm going to give you that. Roxas, you're all set just don't go taking on a swarm of those things again, mmkay?" He gave a friendly wave and left.

Roxas wanted answers but he felt Axel's heat literally surround him so he just enjoyed the comfort the older man was offering. "There's an upside to this situation. You can enjoy the rest of my vacation with me. Axel frown and looked apologetic and Roxas caught on immediately. "What? What did you do?"

"Um… Well my boss wants to meet you as soon as you're better. And by the fact that your wounds are better and you're awake he's going to want to see you today. I'm sorry."

Roxas couldn't help but feel really bummed out. He had this vacation planned out for a long time and he only got half the stuff done he wanted to. But on the other hand, he would get ALL of the answers. Who was Axel's boss? What the hell did he do? Who else could do things like them? So maybe it wasn't a total loss. "Am I going to get all the answers you've been holding back?" Axel nodded with a promising smile. Roxas wanted to match it but there were a couple questions that he needed to ask.

"Axel… what were those monsters and why did they attack me?"

Axel tensed up and he had an extremely apologetic look on his face. "I wanted to keep you in the dark about them for as long as possible. I had a feeling something bad would happen on your trip." Axel kissed a cut on Roxas' neck. It wasn't deep but it was about three inches long. "I want to keep you near me but I knew there was no way I could keep you home."

Roxas gently put his hand on Axel's cheek. "Don't blame yourself Axel. It sounds like this was bound to happen sometime soon." Roxas said quietly. Axel seemed to relax slightly and continued. "The monsters don't have a general name because there's several different types. They target people like us because they want the power to control the element we control. Several monsters have a small amount of control over a certain element and they tend to target us who have their element. The ones we faced were called shadows. They don't have an element but they make it up by attacking in swarms. They're weak alone but as you can see-" he ran another finger gently near another cut "-they're a lot tougher together. Roxas I… I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner." Axel's voice was tense and shaky; he was close to tears Roxas could tell. Roxas laid his head on Axel's and wrapped his arms around him. "Axel it's not your fault. You're right; there was **no** way in hell I would have stayed home and there wasn't any way for you to come with me so it was unavoidable. Please don't blame yourself; I love you too much to let you do that."

Axel tried really hard to hold it in but Roxas just knew exactly what to say to make him feel amazing. "I love you too Roxas." He hugged Roxas close so he couldn't see the older man cry.

There was one more thing that needed to be said before they went anywhere. "Axel I'm going to need combat training."

"I… I know. After we talk to my boss we'll set up a training schedule."

Roxas readjusted himself so his head was on Axel's chest and used his heartbeat to put himself to sleep.

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The sun was setting when Roxas woke up again. he woke up to fingers stroking his hair while he sat next to him. Roxas gave a small pout. "Why'd you move? You were comfy."

Axel chuckled. "Your head is big and heavy and I was hungry."

Roxas scowled, batted Axel's hand away and got up to change. "Do I need to dress nice for your boss?"

Axel slowly waved him off. "Don't worry about that, dress like yourself. He's going to want to find out who you are not the person your parents want to see." Axel gave a bright smile. "He might not like you as much as I do, but he will. He likes spunk. That's why he likes me so much!" Roxas rolled his eyes and banged his head against the wall. "I'm so screwed…" Axel gave him a pout and Roxas loved it. _It's the only time he's cute and I love it every time._

As Roxas was getting dressed in clothes that weren't shredded Axel gave him a swift slap on the ass, which made him yelp loudly. Roxas sent him a sharp glare as he stalked into the bathroom to clean up.

Twenty minutes later, Roxas came out of the bathroom just to see Axel putting on a black, sinister robe. The strange sight made Roxas stopped. For the first time ever he felt nervous around Axel. He wasn't sure what to say so he waited for Axel to say something. It was a good thing that Axel could see his unease. "Don't worry. This robe looks menacing but it's amazing." With a wave of his hand a dark void like portal appeared in the middle of the room. "This lets me teleport where ever I want." Axel held his hand out to Roxas. "Please come with me?"

Roxas saw Axel with his robe and his hand extended to Roxas with the portal behind him and he knew that he needed to stop and think this through. There really was no going back for Roxas if he followed Axel. He wouldn't be able to go back to a normal life with monsters following him; at least not completely. He knew he could still have friends and school. _Maybe I could quit my job!_ He realized that he might not be able to keep his plans of travel in the future. it was a tough choice with his life and future on the line, but it would be easier with Axel there with him. Roxas looked up at Axel's face; his deep green eyes, his flamboyant and soft hair, and his warm smile. _I really do love him, and I've never backed down from something this important before._ Roxas grabbed Axel's hand and he followed the taller man into the portal.

_I won't back down now._

So I wasn't planning on making this two parts but I wanted to make a part where Roxas had to reflect on the choice in front of him. I also really like the ending line, so it works out!

Part two up in either a couple hours or in like two days. Hopefully today!

PS No music this time I've been watching Kitchen Nightmares (US version) with Gordon Ramsey. I LOVE watching that man scream at people.


	11. Part Two: Insert Mandatory Mansex Joke

Ready for a long list of introductions and back story? because that's what you're gonna get! this chapter has been a long time coming and I think it worked out well.

This turned out a lot longer than I thought it was going to be and I'm sorry if its a bit tdry and boring but this chapter had to happen and i liked how it came out for the most part

Enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Chapter Ten Part Two: Insert Mandatory Mansex Joke Here

Traveling through the portal was terrible. Roxas collapsed onto his hands and knees as soon as they got out of it. He was shaking a little bit and coughing. Axel frowned and gently helped Roxas up. "I'm sorry Roxie. Traveling like that takes a toll on your body and it takes time to get used to it."

Roxas nodded but quickly shook all of it off. He didn't dare show Axel's boss how weak he may be at times. He straightened himself out and waited for Axel to lead him in. Axel gently rubbed Roxas' cheek. "Don't be too serious; it'll be ok."

Roxas gently leaned into Axel's hand but remained as serious as he could. "Axel this is serious. I'll relax after I meet him." Axel just nodded and led Roxas inside an **enormous** castle, made out of all white marble. Countless tours, windows, and stairs. Roxas felt like the castle would be an exercise in itself. Roxas sighed and tried not to seem intimidated by the castle as he continued on

XX:BAM PAGEBREAK:XX

After about an hour of walking up stairs and through hallways, they had reached Axel's boss' office. Halfway through their trip Axel had told Roxas that they usually teleported to wherever they needed to go but he didn't want to risk hurting Roxas again. That made Roxas hold Axel's hand as they continued. They separated as Axel knocked on the door and a deep voiced answered for them to enter.

Roxas always thought that Axel had a strange eye-hair color combination, but this man blew it out of the water. He had long, flowing silver hair and sharp gold eyes. He had a calm face and a level stare. He was also wearing a black robe similar to Axel's. Overall he seemed liked a level headed person. Xemnas gave him a smile and said, "Welcome Roxas. My name is Xemnas and welcome to Organization 13. I'm sorry about the incident yesterday. We had known that there was a small disturbance centered on you but it's been around you six months and never made a move. I offer my deepest apologies for a making a wrong assumption and hope that you would still give my organization a real chance."

Roxas was shocked by how polite the man was. Once he got over his shock and cleared his throat. "Good evening sir. I see that you already know my name so now we can move past our introductions. From what I've seen and heard yesterday's incident was unavoidable but in no way anyone's fault." He gave a severe look to Axel but continued. "I won't hold it against you or your organization. The only thing I would like to get is combat or self-defense training. Last night showed me how unprepared I am for situations like that. I hope we can work out a training regimen for me sometime in the near future, sir."

This time Axel was shocked about how polite Roxas could be. Xemnas gave Roxas a friendly smile. It was obvious that he approved of Roxas' manners. "Of course. I think it would be fair to assume that you want Axel to train you." Roxas nodded. "Very well. All three of us can work together to create a regimen that fits your schedule; as important as training is your schoolwork and job are more important. And I don't have to worry about Axel training you because according to his report you already have a deft use of your element. Later today I'd like to see what you can do, if that is acceptable."

"That sounds acceptable. I'm not sure what you're going to think of my talents; they wear me out if I use them for more than 2 hours."

"That's fine young man. I won't judge you for what you can and can't do. I want to see how much and how fast you learn. I have high hopes for you and I can't wait to see what you can do."

Roxas smiled, sensing a challenge. "Yes sir."

Xemnas got up from his desk and walked over to Roxas. "Its very nice to meet you Roxas." He reached out and shook Roxas' hand. He had a firm handshake, which was expected. Roxas was glad to see no malice and ill-intent in Xemnas. He seemed like a nice polite man. Something he imagined how his dad acted around people who weren't his son.

Xemnas led the two to the exit. "Feel free to explore and meet the other members. Axel will lead you to the training room later tonight so we can test your skills."

Roxas gave him a polite smile. "Thank you for your help and kindness sir. I'm excited for what the future brings."

"We all are, Roxas." He gave them a kind wave and closed his door. Axel quickly spoke up after he left. "Where the hell is my sassy boyfriend?!"

Roxas smirked, put his fingers in front of Axel's face and snapped his fingers. It didn't seem like much but it released a giant flash of light temporarily stunning Axel. When Axel came to again, Roxas was down at the end of the hallway. He screamed, "Sassy enough for you?!" Axel bolted after him and tackled him to the ground. "Yes. That's more like it. What do you want to do until we're called for?"

"First, get the hell off of me!" He quickly got out from underneath Axel. "Second, I'd like to learn about what this organization actually is. Still haven't gotten that question answered."

Axel chuckled nervously and looked away which made Roxas scowl. "You don't really know do you?"

"Weeeeelllll I tend to tune out when people talk about history. So yeah, I dunno. But I know who does. Follow me, my prince." He gave Roxas a Cheshire cat smile. Roxas just rolled his eyes and held Axel's hand in his and let Axel lead him to wherever their destination was.

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As Roxas continued to be led down hallway after hallway, he finally saw a familiar face; well a familiar strange hairdo. "Hey Roxie! Nice to finally see you in the castle!" he quickly came over to Roxas and Axel with an older man who had a long black ponytail and an eye patch.

Roxas gave Axel a scowl. "Did you teach him that name?!" Axel put up his hands defensively which caused the other couple to laugh at the two. The older man spoke up. "You're right Demyx, he has spunk. No wonder Axel likes him." he made his way over to Roxas. "Hey there squirt, the name's Xigbar."

Roxas tilted his head. "They let pirates in here?"

Xigbar let out a hearty chuckle. "I like you squirt! Make sure you keep that flamer in line." Roxas just rolled his eyes. He looked over at Demyx who gave the other blond a wink. Suddenly Demyx leaned onto Xigbar's shoulder, moving their faces closer together. "Xiggy? Can you get me some ice cream? Please…?" He finished it off with some puppy dog eyes. Xigbar lasted about half a minute then sighed and slumped. "Alright… You're lucky I have a thing for blonds." Demyx's face lit up and gave the man a quick kiss. Xigbar kissed back with a smile on his face and left to get the ice cream.

Roxas couldn't help but to smirk. "Well we know who the captain of that ship is." Roxas immediately frowned. "I'm sorry that was terrible." He sighed and buried his face in Axel's sighed. Axel just sighed. "You know that pun rule applies for you also right?"

"I know leave me alone."

Demyx had been laughing the whole time. "You guys are such a cute couple." Axel beamed but Roxas scowled at nothing in particular. Axel spoke up for him. "Don't worry. That's his way of saying thank you."

Demyx smiled at the other blond as Xigbar came back with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Demyx squealed and threw himself on Xigbar. "Oh thank you! Best boyfriend ever~!"

Xigbar chuckled and put his arm around Demyx. "All that for ice cream? Wait till we break in your bed." Demyx turned deep red but continued eating his ice cream.

Roxas quickly spoke up. "OK we're leaving!" Roxas quickly dragged Axel off down a random hallway while Xigbar laughed his head off.

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Unfortunately it was the wrong hallway and Axel had to get then back on the right path. About an hour and a half after they got to the castle Axel had said they finally reached the Organization's library. Axel put his finger to his lip as he led Roxas into the library. Inside was an enormous amount of books. Books on books on books. There were a few sofas and chairs sprinkled around the library for people to relax and read in them. In a comfy chair near the back was a short man with long slate hair over one of his eyes, his one eye showing the same color as his hair. He was wearing the typical organization robe. Roxas guessed that it was required to wear it at the castle.

He looked like he was deep into a book to the point that he didn't notice Axel come over until he rested his arm on Zexion's head. "This is the resident bookworm. If you want answers about the history of the organization, this guy's the person to talk to." Zexion gave Axel an intense glare and shrugged off his arm. Roxas was in shock and awe; he hadn't seen anyone else give a scowl anywhere near as good as his. "Whoa. No wonder you weren't bothered my scowl. Seems like he had been giving you several since you've been here."

Axel walked back over to Roxas and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Nah the only reason I was immune to your scowls because you're too cute!" then it was Roxas' turn to scowl. It was nearly identical to Zexion's and it made the other man raise an eyebrow. He decided that this was the time to introduce himself. He walked over to Roxas who was currently brushing off Axel and extended his hand. "Good evening. My name Zexion and its nice to meet you."

Roxas offered a polite smile. "Evening. My name's Roxas and its nice to meet you, too." They shook hands and sat next to each other in a couple close chairs.

"So are you new to the Organization? May I as what your element is?"

"Yep, today is my first day here but I'm not sure if I'm in the Organization yet. And my element is light." He made a small ball of light the size of a pearl on his finger.

Zexion's eyes lit up with fascination. After studying it for a few minutes Zexion recreated the pearl of light on his own finger. Roxas gave him an extremely confused look. He tried to manipulate Zexion's pearl back into his own hand but it wouldn't move. "You're not going to be able to take it back." Zexion explained. "It's an illusion. I can create whatever I want."

Roxas looked amazed. "Where does your ability come from?"

"While yours comes from all light sources, mine comes from inside me. I create the illusions inside my imagination. I know it sounds like something out of a five year old's show but its true."

"So that means you can never be completely cut off from your element?"

"For the most part yes, I can't. I've seen other people succumb to element deprivation and it's not a pretty sight." Roxas nodded and looked away. Axel had been tuning out of the conversation but he heard the topic change and he came over to Roxas and sat next to him to give him comfort. He gently played with Roxas' hair and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. Zexion noticed the swift change in mood. "I'm sorry if I mentioned a touchy subject. Please accept my apology."

Roxas nodded. "It's ok. I tried it during training with Axel and I had a huge freak-out. We haven't tried it again since." Roxas quickly turned to Axel and gave him a loving kiss as he squeezed his hand.

Deciding to change the subject, Roxas turned back to Zexion. "I'd like to join the Organization but I need to understand a few things before I do that. Like how this Organization came into existence. What do you guys do? How much danger am I in while I have power over my element?

"Well let's start with the history. We each have our own numbers." He points to a patch on his cloak. It had the roman numerals VI on it. "Xemnas, number I, Xigbar, number II, and Xaldin, number III, grew up together and eventually found out they each had their own elements. Xaldin told me that after that they had spent several hours experimenting and playing around with them. Unfortunately they had attracted the hunters. The monsters that try to take our elements away don't have a specific name but personally the term hunter seems to fit the best so I use it when I can. Anyway, the original three had several close calls with the hunters to the point where they had to go into hiding. Xigbar had used his powers of special distortion to find a portal to this castle and those three have been here since." Zexion paused to fix the hair over his eye to continue to cover it. "They had been recruiting others like them and us over the years and eventually formed the Organization."

Roxas was processing everything Zexion had said. "I think the term Hunters are perfect. And it sounds like they're a big problem."

"Yes they can be. But just like the Hunters, we can find power in numbers also. That brings me to the next question. What we do here is kind of a three part process. One part is scouting out other people with elements. Another part is combating the Hunters. And the last part is dedicated to researching a way to permanently eliminate the Hunters. If you do become part of the Organization, you can pick which goal you want to work towards."

As Zexion finished his sentence the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard. All three looked over at a wall of a man standing near them. He had crazy orange hair and a serious face. Muscles upon muscles were stuffed into his robe. He was definitely an intimidating person. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I was hoping I could bother Zexion for a few moments." Roxas didn't say anything while Zexion made his way over to the giant man. "You aren't a bother Lexaeus." He followed the man outside with a small smile.

Roxas gave Axel a questioning look. "Don't worry. They're dating. Lexaeus may look like he would crush you with one touch but he only uses his strength when he needs to." Roxas gave a nod and leaned into Axel while they waited.

After a few minutes, Zexion came back with a pleasant smile on his face. "I'm sorry about that." He sat back down near Roxas. "So back to your last point." Zexion's face took on a grim look. "Since your element has manifested and you've been using it on a daily basis, almost all the Hunters know about it. They'll search for you until the end of time and chase and attack you until they call it their own. I'm trying to be as blunt as possible so you can understand the severity of the situation. You need to be on your toes every day. You need to make sure you keep the people around you safe because they **will** become targets in the future. I'm not saying that you should hide out in this castle. I'm saying you need to be strong enough to protect the people you care about. Here they'll teach you everything you know AND keep an eye out for your friends and family in case you're out on a mission. We'll help every way that we can but it will come down to you in the end."

Roxas had grabbed ahold of Axel's hand and was squeezing it tightly, tension evident on his face. He was already worried about his friends back home. Axel quietly whispered into Roxas' ear. "Don't worry I had an ex-coworker keeping an eye on your friends. When we get back I'll help you keep them safe I promise." Roxas nodded and gave him thank you.

Axel spoke up while the tension started to fade. "Well I'm glad you got your answers but it's about time to show of your skills to Xemnas." Roxas nodded and turned back to Zexion. "Thank you so much for all your help and information. I feel like I would like being part of this Organization of Xemnas gives me a chance."

Zexion gave Roxas a nod and a small smile. "I have a feeling he'll give you a chance for sure and I'm glad I got the chance to help and influence your decision in joining the Organization. If it's alright with you I'd like to help out with your training. Here's my cell phone number; please let me know how your meeting with Xemnas goes and if you're willing to accept my help."

Roxas happily accepted Zexion's number. "I will. I would love to get as much help as possible. I'll let you know as soon as I'm done." Roxas looked up at Axel wrapping a possessive arm around Roxas. "But Roxie! I'm supposed to train you!"

Roxas couldn't help but chuckle. Axel was so cute when he pouted. "Don't worry you're still train me the most but Zexion will help out on the side. Now let's go my liege." Roxas smirked at Axel as his face lit up at the nickname. Axel picked up Roxas onto his back and carried him to the training room, piggy-back style. Roxas gave a wave to Zexion as they charged out of there.

It sucks trying to rush stories to get them done before work. Anyway I tried to balance out the serious parts with humor. Let me know if I did a good job!

I need to mention something important! When i wrote chapter 9 I didn't realize that in the 1st chapter I had mentioned that the settings in this story were based on worlds and not actually Earth so I messed up big there. I figured I could actually have the world that Roxas and co. were living on be Earth while still having other worlds available out there. I just wanted to point that out and apologize.

So there probably won't be another chapter this week and maybe not next sorry :( this week i'm super busy with work and friends PLUS I just got my frist XBOX 360! Super exciting so I'll be playing that non stop. The good news is that I have the general outline of the next chapter done and i'm working out the details in my head so if I keep thinking about it I'll eventually start writing again and hopefully soon!

See you next chapter!

PS no music again just more of Gordon Ramsey screaming at people. Man I love watching him do that.


	12. Challenge Accepted

New... CHAPTER!1! I'm so glad I got this finished! I'm sorry for the wait! I'm not going to bog you down with reasons and excuses I just want you to enjoy the story! So enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Chapter 11: Challenge Accepted

The training room was immense; with tons of different training equipment all of which made Roxas stare in awe. Xemnas was standing near the entrance with a smirk on his face. He seemed to enjoy the shocked look on Roxas' face. "Welcome to our training room. As you can see we have nearly every type of training and exercise equipment available here. We won't use all of them today, but we will use what we can. Axel told me you have no prior weapons or martial arts training so we will focus on your power. Let's start with defense." He nodded to Axel who stood on one side of a small arena. "Alright Roxas take your spot on the other side." Roxas nodded and did what he was told. Xemnas spoke up again. "As you can see the room is very well lit. I want you to use that light to block Axel's attacks." Axel looked reluctant but when he received another nod from Xemnas, he made a small fireball and chucked it at Roxas. Roxas had enough time to make a weak shield by throwing his hands out in front of him. It absorbed most of the fire but some of the heat got through the shield and blew over him. To Roxas it felt like a wave of hot air coming off a volcano.

When Roxas lowered his shield he saw a worried look on Axel's face. "Don't go easy on me!" Roxas yelled with a stern look on his face. Axel frowned but nodded, already aiming for Roxas. Roxas closed his eyes and held his arms out like he did before. He felt the light forming in front of his hands. He felt the sides become solid and rigid while the middle became thicker with extra layers. He felt a couple large impacts on his shield and it ate away a few layers but Roxas kept his focus and quickly remade all the lost layers and several more. When he felt like it was finished he opened his eyes. There was a yellow and white translucent shield blocking all of Axel's fireballs. Roxas smirked and shifted his stance forward, throwing one hand towards Axel. His shield went hurdling towards Axel, stopping inches to where he stood. The shield slowly faded revealing a very shocked Axel. Roxas soaked up Axel's Reaction and turned to Xemnas. "Next?"

Xemnas was impressed but didn't show it. It was clear to him that Roxas had an ego when it came to his power. That meant it was Xemnas' job to break it. "Alright. Next is target practice." He led Roxas and Axel over to a group of targets ranging from 10 feet away to 250 feet away. "Your job is to hit the center of each target." Roxas nodded and started to form a ball of light in his hands but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked up and saw Axel with a friendly smile on his face. "I know you're really good at making spheres and stuff like that but try something smaller with a point. It could be arrows, knives, throwing star, whatever. Just remember the goal is to hit the center, not blow it up." Advice delivered, Axel gave Roxas a peck on the cheek for good luck and moved out of the way, pretending to ignore the look Xemnas was giving him.

Roxas immediately started to work Axel's advice into his light, making his ball slowly form into a simple arrow. He chucked it right into the 10 foot target. It hit dead center and Roxas let out a sigh of relief. He didn't relax for too long because he was already forming and firing more arrows. The targets at 25, 50, 75, and 100 feet were hit on the bull's-eyes but after that they started to skew to the point where anything after 200 he missed completely. Roxas was pretty pissed when he tried again. He hit the 200 in the center but still missed the other two. His anger quickly doubled but instead of freaking out like he wanted to, he took a deep breathe. He blocked out everything but the target and his light. He felt it flow from his hands and formed two arrows. He smoothed out the surfaces and made them sleeker; more aerodynamic. He focused on the distance, the amount of work needed to get to each target, the amount of force he would fire the arrows with, and the potential wind force. They were inside so the last part was easy. When he felt confident and after some mental math, he fired. He held his breathe till he heard two audible "thunk!"s. He looked at the targets and saw that there was an arrow in the center off the 225 foot target and the other arrow just centimeters away from the center on the 250 target. Roxas exhaled and put on a triumphant smile. When he looked over he saw that Xemnas looked mildly impressed. Axel was behind him puffing out his chest looking insanely proud. Roxas chucked at his beanpole boyfriend and asked, "What's next?"

Xemnas regained his composure before he spoke. "Next test was actually created by one of our own members." He nodded at Axel who casually wheeled over a giant mirror. "Your goal is to create a duplicate of yourself out of your element." Axel calmly spoke up when Xemnas was done. "Don't worry I'm here to help. Well help a little bit. The mirror is used to help you focus on the details about yourself. Think about those details and created an image of yourself in your head. After that let your light fill in those details."

Roxas nodded as he processed what Axel said. He looked himself over in the mirror. Pale skin showing in several places, small curves here in there, messy golden spikes on his head, all on a skinny frame. He closed his eyes and reviewed those details and several others in his head. As he went over them a blob-ish form started to take shape next to him. After his skinny frame came into shape, his black conversed took form, followed with his baggy jeans that had white pant legs and a black crotch, then his black vest that was zipped up and cut off at the sleeves. it had white checkered patterns running up and down the duplicate also had his black and white rings that he wore on both of his hands and his x necklace. When Roxas opened his eyes the duplicate was done forming but it wasn't complete. Its skin, its clothes, its everything was a pleasant sunshine color; very close to Roxas' hair color. The only thing that was missing was a face. The only thing that was there was a set of yellow eyes. _Almost like a Shadow's eyes._ With that thought Roxas quickly looked away and the duplicate vanished just as fast.

Roxas saw the curiosity on Xemnas' face and addressed it. "It had the same eyes as the Shadows." Xemnas gave him an understanding look. "Ah yes. Well besides that small detail that was an amazing replica." He looked around the training area. "Ah perfect! Let's try some dodging exercises. Roxas nodded and went to follow the older man but he stumbled and fell after the first step. He didn't' feel his exhaustion until that moment. Axel was immediately by his side, whispering questions of concern. Roxas used Axel's shoulder to prop himself back up. He tried to take another step but Axel wrapped an arm around Roxas' waste and held firm. Xemnas raised an eyebrow at the two. Axel was the first to speak. "I think he's done for the day."

"No I'm fine! I can keep going! Let go!" he started to thrash weakly.

As the two struggled with each other Xemnas calmly cleared his throat. The sound caused the two to stop almost instantly. "Roxas you have already proved that your abilities are well above par. What you lack in stamina you make up in dexterity. The way you manipulate your element is superb. At the rate your ability is growing I would be more than happy to welcome you to the organization." Roxas' face lit up like the light of the sun. "Thank you sir! I'd love to join! Thank you for the opportunity!"

Xemnas smiled and clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! We'll have a cloak made for you before you return home. For now please rest and enjoy the rest of your vacation. I believe school starts again in two days." He finished with a playful smirk. Roxas just groaned and collapse against Axel. Axel chuckled as he carried Roxas up to Axel's room. "Low blow boss, low blow."

So I hope I haven't gotten worse since my absense. If I have please let me know! But before I go a few things.

1) I changed Roxas' outfit a little bit. I made it have more black and more symmetrical. I felt like the color and the design fit his personality better.

2) Each exercise was loosely based off of a different Organization member. Can you guess who they are?

3) Music for this chapter was Run For Your Life by 6 Day Riot, Body Work by Morgan Page Feat. Tegan and Sara, and Fight For You by Morgan Page.

4) Next chapter isn't actually a chapter but an intermission. Just wanted to vent some ideas for the story, add character depth, etc.

5) See ya next chapter!


	13. Intermission: Chain Of Memories

So here's a small intermission between chapters. Each one is important in its own sense and definitely isn't filler.

One thing before the story begins! the 3 organization members I based the training sessions off of were Vexen, Larxene, and Demyx. The first one was pretty easy. That damn shield of Vexen's was annoying. The second one i felt like i shouldve specified a bit more in the story. Larxene's kunai shot straight and I felt she'd be great with distance shots while Xigbar was more trick shots and curved bullets (that's mostly based off of birth by sleep.) And the last one was !based off of demyx's water forms. Dance water Dance!

Anyway Enjoy!

Follow Me Down

Intermission: Chain of Memories

11:30 AM, Day 3 Of April Vacation

Hayner knew what that headache meant. After four years of getting them he knew it was going to be a crappy night. Hayner massaged his temples in hope to relieve some of the pain but it never worked. Only time would make it go away and before long the visions slowly replaced the pain. There were several of them, all jumbled together. Hayner had practice understanding them when they first flashed so it was only a small annoyance. In the mess he saw several images of Roxas. Some of him fighting, some of him training, and some with him talking with several people Hayner didn't recognize. Although they all had one major thing in common: weird hair styles. Hayner chuckled at that but the last couple visions quickly killed his laughter. They showed Roxas fighting and losing, him being hurt, and him unconscious. As the visions died out Hayner saw a flash of red that he guessed was Axel but he didn't care; he was already calling Roxas. But, of course, he didn't answer. _Asshole always ignores his phone whenever someone is trying to get ahold of him!_ After leaving an angry voicemail, Hayner sighed and flopped down on his couch. He still had all the visions stored in his head and he had nothing to do while he waited for a callback from Roxas, so he decided to sort through all the visions he had. Which meant a long night from Hayner. _Being a seer sucks. _

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February 21st

Olette and Pence were out shopping for sewing supplies. Olette needed to design some costumes for a school play. Olette actually designed the whole gang's favorite outfits. There was no denying her talent. The couple had been enjoying their pseudo-date but halfway through Olette started to smile less and think a lot more. When pence noticed the change, he hugged Olette from behind. "Everything ok Olette?"

She leaned into Pence and sighed. "I'm worried about Roxas. I know he has Axel and I do trust Axel but… I just feel like he's going to get in over his head and fast. Those powers are cool and all but what if he hurts himself or someone else? What if someone finds out that he has them and tries to hurt him because of them? Or forces him to use them to hurt other people?"

Pence gave Olette a chaste kiss to calm her down. It did the trick a little bit. "Don't worry about Roxas. He can be level-headed when it matters. Plus he has Axel to help him out of whatever situation he gets into. Plus we can help him, too! Don't worry mama bear he'll be ok."

Olette giggled and nodded. "I love how smart you can be."

"I love you too sweetheart. Now did you get everything you needed here? 'Cuz I was hoping we could split a pizza!" He finished with a goofy smile which made Olette laugh again. She linked arms with Pence and the two left for the food court together.

XX:BAM PAGEBREAK:XX

January 17th

Even though it was technically winter, Roxas still visited their beach. It was cold enough for sweaters and Roxas was wearing one that looked like his vest but had sleeves. Right now he was crying and throwing rocks at the ocean. It was the only way that he could think of to let out his anger. After about 20 rocks in, he heard a voice snap him he out of his fury. "Wow what did the ocean do? Kick your puppy?" Roxas' body went rigid Axel walk his way. Before Axel got close enough, Roxas quickly cleaned up his face and put his scowl back on. "Nothing; Don't worry about it." There was an icy tone in Roxas' voice that Axel never got anymore. Axel leaned his head onto Roxas' shoulder. "Everything ok babe?"

Roxas didn't say anything. He just shrugged Axel off. Not satisfied with that answer Axel whipped Roxas around to get a better look at him. Roxas' eyes were red and puffy. "Roxas…You've been crying!"

Roxas quickly pushed Axel away and moved close to the water. "Leave me alone Axel. I'm fine." Axel marched dover to the teen, sat in front of him and pulled him onto his lap. Roxas started to struggle but Axel didn't care as he spread his legs so Roxas could sit between them, facing the sea. Axel held him there till he felt the struggling stop. Unfortunately the tears started soon after. After a few minutes, Axel spoke up. "Please tell me what happened."

"I came out to my parents." Axel was glad that Roxas couldn't see the look of shock on his face. "Figured I'd open the door for you to meet them. But you know what they said? 'It's just a phase. You'll grow out of it.' I tried to explain to them that I wasn't but they kept ignoring me." Axel heard Roxas trying to keep his voice level but he was failing. "I wanted to give them one more chance but they threw it in my face. Now I'm breaking down in public! In front of you, no less! You weren't supposed to see me like this. this is a dissast-" Axel stopped him there with a hand on his mouth and a cheek against his cheek.

"Stop. Just Stop." Axel turned Roxas around so they were facing each other. "Your parents are assholes. That no surprise. But I don't want you to think it's worse because I found you like this. I want to be the person you turn to Roxie."

Roxas weakly tried to struggle against Axel. "No! No one can see me like this!"

"Why? Because they don't deserve to? Because you don't want them to? Or is it because you don't want people to think that you're anything but a cold hearted bastard? And why does it matter when it comes to me?"

"Because I don't want you to leave me for being so weak!"

Axel once again looked shocked but this time Roxas saw it. Roxas quickly turned away as he felt the tears he couldn't stop slide down his face. Axel wiped the tears away as he spoke. "Don't ever say that again. I would never leave you for such a shallow reason. I knew this side of you existed. You can't be rude, sassy, and classy all at the same time Roxie." That earned Axel a small chuckle. "I've been waiting to see this side of you and I want you to promise me that you won't hide it from me ever again, ok?" Roxas looked away again but Axel made it so they were facing each other; so close their noses were touching. "Please." Being that close to Axel, feeling his heat envelope Roxas, smelling nothing but old spice and lighter fluid, he said the only answer he could think of. "I promise." Axel's face grew a bright smile as he gave Roxas a bone crushing hug.

"Now for your parents: They threw your last chance back in your face. But that means that there's nothing stop you from leaving them when you graduate right? Don't think of it as them rejecting you; think of it as them involuntary giving you permission to leave." Roxas listened with a weird look on his face. After few seconds of silence Axel spoke up. "What?"

"Sorry, I was shocked to see you use your brain. " Axel put on his pout but before he could say anything Roxas gave his own bone crushing hug back as he whispered into Axel's ear, "Thank you, for everything."

Axel just nodded and returned the hug. It was good to see a smile on Roxas' face again. It was even better knowing he put it there.

The funny part about this was that the shortest part will have the most back story. That right I have plenty in store for Hayner even if it is in the backround.

I might do another intermission if this one is well liked and I get enough of the main story out. either way it was fun. The only thing that made me feel bad was that I wanted to add a sweet tender moment to balance out the last one but it would just be filler and have no real point to the story so I scrapped it!

Anyway See ya next chapter!

PS songs this chapter: Stand Up and Run by Billy Talent, Hourglass by Zedd and The Longest Road by Morgan Page and Deadmau5


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